Autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot, autonomous tire changing system, and method for autonomously changing tires

Abstract

To provide an autonomous tire changing system.SOLUTION: An autonomous traverse tire changing bot 120 includes: a carriage 120 C having a carriage drive section 121, along a traverse path, relative to a traverse surface or a floor 198 on which the bot is placed; and a bot frame 125 including at least one actuator 126 mounted to the carriage and a bot drive section 127 with a motor defining an actuator degree of freedom, where the at least one actuator has an end effector 128 having a tire engagement tool disposed so that articulation of the at least one actuator with the actuator degree of freedom effects engagement contact of the tire engagement tool 129 and a tire mounted on a vehicle; and a controller 160 effects traverse of the bot along the traverse path effecting dynamic positioning of the at least one actuator relative to a variable position of the vehicle with the tire mounted thereon.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This U.S. non-provisional patent application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 022,983, filed May 11, 2020, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0002] FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE The present disclosure relates generally to vehicle tire changing machines, and more particularly to automated vehicle tire changing machines and systems. [Background technology]

[0003] As with many industries that generally rely on human labor, there exists a shortage of vehicle service technicians to meet demand for, for example, the automotive service industry. Even with a sufficient number of employees, the throughput and efficiency of an automotive service facility or center may be affected if one of those vehicle service technicians does not show up to work.

[0004] In addition to maintaining a sufficient number of vehicle service technicians, automotive service facilities also face the challenge of finding suitably competent technicians for any given task. For example, senior vehicle service technicians are often too highly compensated for a service facility to justify having senior vehicle service technicians perform certain types of work. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for some senior vehicle service technicians to refuse work that is below their level of proficiency. For example, a senior vehicle service technician may refuse to perform vehicle tire changes. This presents a challenge for service facilities to maintain a generally appropriate mix of vehicle service technician skill levels in order to maximize profits and operate the service facility efficiently.

[0005] Ever-changing levels of consumer demand for particular automotive services can also complicate the challenge of operating an efficient service facility, as at a particular time a service facility may have an adequate number of vehicle service technicians with the appropriate skill levels for a particular task, such as changing vehicle tires, while at other times the same number of vehicle service technicians may not be adequate to meet customer demand for changing vehicle tires.

[0006] Typically, depending on the size of the service facility, tire changes are performed entirely manually, manually with machine assistance, or semi-automated. Fully manual tire changes are labor-intensive and involve the use of manual bead breakers, crowbars, or installation and removal tools, tire irons, and wheel supports. The amount of labor involved in entirely manual tire changes can limit the number of tire changes that can be performed by a vehicle service technician in a given amount of time. Manual with machine assistance reduces the labor involved in tire changes and generally involves a machine with a hydraulically driven operating axis that assists in removing the tire bead, in addition to manipulating the tire bead around the flange of the wheel from which the tire is removed or installed. Semi-automated tire machines further reduce the labor involved in tire changes, thereby allowing a service technician to perform more tire changes. However, such semi-automated machines generally require the presence of a vehicle service technician, making multiple simultaneous tire changes by a single vehicle service technician impractical. The number of tire changes (and vehicles processed) that can be performed by the above-described conventional tire changing apparatus / methods is generally limited by the number of machines and corresponding vehicle service technicians available to use the machines.

[0007] In addition to the tire replacement process, newly installed tires require the tire / wheel assembly to be balanced. This is typically performed by a vehicle service technician using a conventional tire balancing machine while the tire / wheel assembly is off the vehicle. While tire balancing machines have been used in the past to balance tire / wheel assemblies while they are on the vehicle, all-wheel drive and traction control systems on newer vehicles have completely eliminated the conventional method of balancing tire / wheel assemblies while they are on the vehicle. Tire balancing beads are also used to dynamically balance tire / wheel assemblies, and may be inserted into the tire by a vehicle service technician before seating the tire beads on the wheel. In either case, each of the tire balancing methods described above requires the presence of a vehicle service technician, again limiting the number of tires that can be replaced in a given period of time. Summary of the Invention

[0008] The foregoing aspects and other features of the present disclosure are explained in the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of an automated tire changing system incorporating aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2A] FIG. 2 is another schematic illustration of the automated tire changing system of FIG. 1 incorporating aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2B] FIG. 2 is yet another schematic illustration of the automated tire changing system of FIG. 1 incorporating aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2C] FIG. 2 is yet another schematic illustration of the automated tire changing system of FIG. 1 incorporating aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 2D] FIG. 2 is another schematic illustration of the automated tire changing system of FIG. 1 incorporating aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is an exemplary illustration of a tire and wheel assembly according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a portion of the automated tire changing system of FIG. 1 incorporating aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 5] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of automated guided vehicle navigation according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of automated guided vehicle navigation according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of automated guided vehicle navigation according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of automated guided vehicle navigation according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 9A] 1 is an exemplary method according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 9B] 1 is an exemplary method according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 9C] 1 is an exemplary method according to aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an automated tire changing system according to aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] 1 illustrates an exemplary automated tire changing system 100 according to embodiments of the present disclosure. Although embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings, it should be understood that embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented in many forms. Furthermore, any suitable size, shape, or type of components or materials can be used.

[0011] 1 and 3 , embodiments of the tire changing system 100 described herein automate the process of changing a tire 111T on a vehicle 110. As described herein, the tire changing system 100 provides for changing a tire with the wheel 111W on the vehicle 110 (i.e., in situ) or by removing the wheel 111W from the vehicle 110. In one or more embodiments, the tire changing system 100 provides for an operator of the tire changing system 100, such as a vehicle service technician 199, to select between changing the tire in situ or by removing the wheel 111W from the vehicle 110. The vehicle 110 is any suitable vehicle having a wheel assembly 111 (including the tire 111T mounted on the wheel or rim 111W) coupled to and removable from a wheel hub. Suitable examples of the vehicle 110 include, but are not limited to, passenger cars, commercial vehicles, and recreational vehicles.

[0012] Aspects of the tire changing system 100 described herein automate the tasks associated with changing a tire 111T on a vehicle 110. Tire changing as described herein minimally involves removing an old or used tire 111TU from a wheel 111W and replacing the used tire 111TU with what may be represented as a replacement or other (new) tire 111TN that is mounted on the wheel 111W in place of the removed used tire 111N. Aspects of the tire changing system 100 provide an address for the above-mentioned challenges by allowing a single vehicle service technician 199 to simultaneously oversee the changing of two or more tires on the same or different vehicles. Aspects of the tire changing system 100 described herein generally limit the vehicle service technician's 199 interaction with the vehicle 110 and / or tire changing equipment (e.g., tire changer, tire balancer, etc.) and substantially eliminate lifting of the wheel assembly 111 by the vehicle service technician 199. This allows the vehicle service technician 199 to work in a less labor-intensive environment and interact with the tire changing system 100 as needed (e.g., transferring the vehicle 110 to and from the tire changing system 100, supplying replacement tires 110TN or other supplies (valve stems, valve caps, lubricants, cleaning fluids, etc.) to the tire changing system 100, performing maintenance on tire changing system components, etc.). Aspects of the tire changing system 100 further eliminate the need for the vehicle service technician 199 to lift the vehicle 110 to a height that is ergonomic for removing and installing wheel assemblies 111 to and from the vehicle 110. Here, the vehicle 110 simply needs to be raised (or the normal force removed from the wheel assembly 111) to a height where the tire 111T is no longer in contact with the lateral movement surface on which the vehicle 110 was moving, so that there is suitable clearance around the tire 111T to facilitate removal of the wheel assembly 111 from the vehicle or removal of the tire 111T from the wheel 111W.

[0013] Still referring to FIG. 1 , the tire changing system 100 is configured to change one or more tires while the wheels 111W remain on the vehicle 110 (i.e., in situ) and / or while the wheels 111W are removed from the vehicle 110. The tire changing system 100 includes at least one tire changing station 101, noting that multiple tire changing stations may be provided to allow multiple vehicles 110 to be serviced simultaneously by a single vehicle service technician 199. An autonomous configuration of the tire changing system provides for the service of multiple vehicles 110 by a single vehicle service technician 199 and with minimal intervention by the vehicle service technician 199 in the tire changing process. Generally, the tire changing station 101 includes at least one autonomous lateral moving tire changing bot 120 (referred to herein for convenience as “bot 120”). It should be understood that reference to an autonomous lateral moving tire changing bot 120 does not exclude the inclusion of two or more autonomous lateral moving tire changing bots, as described in more detail herein. For example, some embodiments of the present disclosure (as described herein) include two or more separate and / or independent and cooperative bots 120 that cooperate to effect a tire change (although in some embodiments a single robot directly effects the tire change). In some embodiments, there are multiple bots 120 configured for each task. For example, one bot 120 is configured for wheel assembly 111 or tire 111T removal, and another bot 120 is configured for lug nut / bolt removal, or any other process of tire change, for example, as illustrated by tools 129A-129M described herein.

[0014] 1 and 10, a control architecture 1000 of tire changing system 100 is described. The control architecture of tire changing system 100 generally includes a business and application logic portion 1001, a control console 1010, and one or more tire changing system devices 1020A-1020n (where n is an integer representing a numerical upper limit on the number of tire changing system devices in tire changing system 100). One or more tire changing system devices 1020A-1020n may be any one or more of the devices described herein (i.e., bot 120, automated or semi-automated tire changing machine 182, automated or semi-automated tire balancing machine 183, tire storage rack / cart 187, barrier, etc.). In one embodiment, one or more tire changing system devices 1020A-1020n are assigned to the single tire changing station 101 (e.g., where the service facility has a single service bay), or in other embodiments, some of the tire changing system devices 1020A-1020n are assigned to one tire changing station 101 and others of the tire changing system devices 1020A-1020n are assigned to another tire changing station 101 (e.g., where the service facility has two or more service bays).

[0015] 10 , a portion of business and application logic portion 1001 overlaps with a portion of control console 1010, although in other aspects, no overlap may exist. For illustrative purposes, a portion of business and application logic portion 1001 resides within control console 1010. Business and application logic portion 1001 is configured with any suitable operating system (OS) (e.g., programmed in non-transitory computer-readable code that executes on any suitable processor of control console 1010) to facilitate one or more of a plurality of local services and a plurality of cloud-based services. Control console 1010 includes database access and management module 1002 (which may be configured as a hardware or software module), cloud interface module 1003 (which may be configured as a hardware or software module), operator graphical user interface 1004, and application logic module 1005 (which may be configured as a hardware or software module) that is shared with business and application logic portion 1001.

[0016] The operator graphical user interface 1004 is configured (e.g., programmed in non-transitory computer-readable code executing on any suitable processor and memory) to facilitate operator input and control of the tire changing system 100 (e.g., operational control for both tire changing services and control of management services (e.g., billing, software updates, database entry, invoicing, inventory, etc.)). The database access and management module 1002 communicates with the operator graphical user interface 1004 and any suitable database 1060 to facilitate access to and storage of information including, but not limited to, tire information, customer information, vehicle information, billing information, and inventory, and relationships between various information (i.e., each customer or vehicle has a respective record including respective tire information, respective billing information, etc.). The cloud interface module 1003 is configured (e.g., programmed in non-transitory computer-readable code executing on any suitable processor and memory) to provide an interface between the control console and one or more cloud services. It should be noted that references herein to cloud services relate to cloud computing, also known as the on-demand availability of computer system resources, particularly data storage and computing power, without direct active management by the user, and generally refer to data centers available to many users via the Internet. These cloud services include, but are not limited to, remote access to tire changing system 100, point-of-service payment and billing, and over-the-air software updates for components of tire changing system 100. Application logic module 1005 is configured to interface at least operator graphical user interface 1004, database access and management module 1002, and cloud interface module 1003 with one another.

[0017] The control console 1010 further includes a web application interface 1006, a process monitoring module 1007 (which may be configured as a hardware or software module), a process control module 1008 (which may be configured as a hardware or software module), an equipment maintenance module 1009 (which may be configured as a hardware or software module), and a network application interface 1011 for the equipment modules (which may be configured as hardware or software modules). The web application interface 1006 is configured (e.g., programmed in non-transitory computer-readable code executing on any suitable processor and memory) to provide access to a web server and / or web browser (e.g., for accessing cloud services), for example, for an operator graphical user interface and / or other modules of the control console. The process monitoring module 1007 is configured (e.g., programmed in non-transitory computer-readable code executing on any suitable processor and memory) to monitor the tire change process as described herein (e.g., by sending and receiving data to and from the devices 1020A-1020n indicating that the tire change process has started, finished, or been paused due to an error) and provide feedback to the process control module 1008. The process control module 1008 is programmed (e.g., programmed in non-transitory computer-readable code executing on any suitable processor and memory) to issue commands to the devices 1020A-1020n that control the process flow for the tire change such that the tire change operations occur in a predetermined sequence that may depend on the type of tire change and the tire change service requested.The device maintenance module 1009 is programmed (e.g., programmed in non-transitory computer readable code executing on any suitable processor and memory) to monitor the health of the devices 1020A-1020n and provide maintenance alerts to an operator via the operator graphical user interface 1004. The network application interface 1011 to the device module is configured to provide a wired or wireless interface between components of the control console and the devices 1020A-1020n.

[0018] 1 , the bot 120, including the bot frame 125, further includes or is coupled / attached to a carriage 120C. The carriage 120C may be any suitable carriage that facilitates lateral movement of the bot 120 as described herein. For example, in one or more embodiments, the carriage 120C is a wheeled carriage that includes a carriage frame 120F, wheels 120W supporting the carriage frame 120F, and a carriage drive 121, while in one or more other embodiments, the carriage 120C is a sliding platform that slides or moves along rails and is driven in any suitable manner, such as with a ball screw or other linear actuator. For illustrative purposes only, while the carriage 120C is described herein as a wheeled carriage, it should be understood that the carriage may or may not include wheels and may be driven in any suitable manner (e.g., sliding along rails, etc.) to move relative to the vehicle 110 to effect a tire change as described herein.

[0019] For illustrative purposes only, the carriage drive 121 (wheeled or not) includes at least one motor 121M defining at least one degree of freedom that drives at least one of the wheels 120W (or rotates a ball screw, etc.), which results in autonomous lateral movement of the carriage 120 relative to the lateral movement surface or floor 198 on which the bot 120 rests, along a lateral movement path 299 (see, e.g., FIG. 2A ). As described herein, the lateral movement path 299 along which the bot moves, in one or more embodiments, may be a path around the entire vehicle 110 or a path around a portion of the vehicle 110, and the lateral movement path may depend on the number of bots 120 included in the tire changing system 100. For example, if two bots 120 are present, each bot moves laterally along a respective side of the vehicle 110 (e.g., the driver's side or the passenger's side). As another example, if two bots 120 are present on a common side of the vehicle 110 (e.g., the driver's or passenger's side), each bot 120 moves laterally along a respective portion of the common side of the vehicle 110.

[0020] As described in more detail, a lateral movement path (such as lateral movement path 299 in FIG. 2A ) can be defined in any suitable manner, for example, by non-contact bot guidance on a non-deterministic movement surface (i.e., without physical constraints guiding the movement of bot 120) or with physical constraints (such as rails) along which bot 120 moves. When bot 120 moves on a non-deterministic movement surface, wheels 120W are configured in any suitable manner to impart linear lateral and rotational movement to carriage 120C. For example, one or more of wheels 120W may be easily movable, or wheels may be holonomic wheels (such as Mecanum wheels, omniwheels, or polywheels). When bot 120 moves on rails 236 (see FIG. 2D ), for example, wheels 120W may be any suitable wheels configured to follow and move along rails.

[0021] In one or more embodiments, the entire bot 120 may align itself in one or more degrees of freedom relative to the vehicle 110, wheel assembly 111, wheel 111W, tire 111T, or any other component of the tire changing system 100 to perform a tire changing operation. For illustrative purposes only, the center of rotation of the tire bead breaker tool 129H (described herein) is substantially aligned with the center of rotation of the wheel assembly 111, and the plane in which the tire bead breaker tool 129H operates is set to be approximately parallel to the axis of rotation of the wheel assembly 111. If the carriage 120C is easily movable or includes holonomic wheels, this positioning of the tire bead breaker tool 129H may be achieved in the following directions: a linear direction 237 extending generally parallel to both the floor 198 and the vehicle 110 and extending longitudinally (from front to rear) relative to the vehicle 110; and A linear direction 238 extending generally perpendicular to the vehicle 110 and generally parallel to the floor 198 This is achieved at least in part by controlling wheels to position the bot 120 along one or more of the following:

[0022] When carriage 120C is guided, for example, by rails 236 (i.e., constrained lateral movement), movement of the carriage in direction 237 is achieved by moving the carriage along rails 236. However, movement in direction 238 is limited by the constraints of rails 236. Here, carriage 120C includes a motion stage 120S coupled to frame 120F for movement relative to frame 120F in at least direction 238. For example, motion stage 120S is coupled to frame 120F by stage guide rails having any suitable drive that imparts linear movement in direction 238 to motion stage 120S.

[0023] In one or more embodiments, such as when carriage 120S is rail-guided, interposed between translation stage 120S and stage guide rails are one or more rotational couplings. In other embodiments, such as when carriage 120 is a wheeled carriage, one or more rotational couplings couple translation stage 120S (similar to that of a rail-guided carriage) to frame 120F. These one or more rotational couplings may be in the following directions: a rotational orientation 239 having a rotational axis 239R extending substantially perpendicular to the floor; a rotational orientation 240 having a rotational axis 240R extending generally parallel to the floor 198; and A rotational orientation 241 having a rotational axis 240R extending substantially parallel to the floor 198 , including any suitable drive for moving motion stage 120S.

[0024] In some embodiments, a vertical drive may be provided to move the motion stage 120S (and / or frame 120F) vertically to raise or lower the motion stage 120S (and / or frame 120F). As such, the motion stage 120S may be provided with five or six degrees of freedom (in other embodiments, there may be more than seven or fewer degrees of freedom) for aligning the bot 120 with the vehicle 110, wheel assembly 111, wheel 111W, tire 111T, or any other component of the tire changing system 100 to perform a tire changing operation.

[0025] The bot frame 125 includes at least one robotic articulated arm 126 (referred to herein for convenience as an actuator or “robot arc 126”) and a bot drive 127. In one or more embodiments, the at least one robotic arm 126 can be any suitable multi-axis arm available from manufacturers such as Fanuc Robotics Company, Kuka Automation Company, and Yaskawa Electric Corporation. In one or more embodiments, the at least one robotic arm 126 has a custom arm configuration having any suitable number of axes. The at least one robotic arm 126 (whether commercially available or custom) has any suitable number of degrees of freedom for effecting a tire change as described herein. For example, the at least one robotic arm 126 is a 1-axis arm, 2-axis arm, 3-axis arm, 5-axis arm, 6-axis arm, 7-axis arm, 9-axis arm, or an arm having any other suitable number of axes. In one or more embodiments as described herein, the bot 120 has two or more robotic arms 126, 126A, and in one or more embodiments, the different arms have different numbers of axes and / or different tire changing capabilities. The robotic arms 126 are driven by a bot drive 127, which includes at least one motor 127M defining a separate bot arm degree of freedom independent of at least one degree of freedom that drives an axis of the lateral movement path 299 of the bot 120 (e.g., a degree of freedom such as a ball screw rotation that drives at least one of the multiple wheels 120W). The robotic arms have an end effector 128 including a wheel or tire engaging tool 129 and a wheel or tire engaging tool 129 arranged such that a joint of the at least one robotic arm 126 having the bot arm degree of freedom effects engagement contact with a wheel 111W or tire 111T mounted on the vehicle 110.The arms articulation axes / axes AX1-AX6 defined by the joints of the at least one robot arm 126 having robot arm degrees of freedom are separate and distinct from the lateral movement path 299 along which the carriage 120C moves laterally. As described herein, aspects of the present disclosure provide for automated control of the fully dynamic pose of the carriage 120C (e.g., along a rail or at least one drive axis (e.g., along a non-deterministic lateral movement plane, in at least one lateral movement direction) of the carriage 120C) to engage any suitable tool (such as those described herein) with variably positioned wheels 111W and / or tires 111T on the vehicle 110, where the joints of the at least one robot arm 126 (along a drive axis different from the drive axis of the carriage 120C) are coupled to the end effector 128 of the at least one robot arm 126.

[0026] 1 and 3 , according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, wheel or tire engagement tools 129 include one or more of a wheel assembly grip 129A, a valve stem cap installation tool 129B, a valve stem cap removal tool 129C, a tire deflation tool 129D, a tire installation / removal tool 129E, a valve core installation tool 129F, a valve core removal tool 129G, a tire bead breaker tool 129H, a wheel cleaning tool 129I, a lug wrench 129J, a tire balancing bead dispenser 129K, a tire inflation tool 129L, a tire balancer 129M, and / or any other suitable tool for effecting the replacement of a tire 111T. In one or more embodiments, the tools are housed on any suitable tool holder 134 held by carriage 120C or located external to bot 120 at a location within tire change station 101 accessible by at least one robotic arm 126. In one or more embodiments, the tools are interchangeable / swappable with one another such that the end effector 128 places one tool for performing a tire changing operation and picks up another, different tool. For example, the bot 120 includes a controller 160 configured to command the at least one robotic arm 126, e.g., via the joints of the at least one robotic arm 126, to automatically exchange one tool for another based on the operation to be performed, such that the end effector 128 places a tool (e.g., a tire bead breaker tool 129H) in the tool holder 134 and then picks up another, different tool (e.g., a tire inflation tool 129L) from the tool holder to perform a subsequent step in the tire changing process.The controller 160 is further configured to control the drives of the bot 120 (e.g., the drives of the arm 126 and carriage 120C that cause movement of the arm 126 and carriage 120C as described herein) to position the carriage 120C relative to the vehicle 110, another bot 120, or other components of the tire changing system 100 (e.g., a tire balancer, a tire changer, a cart, etc.). Referring also to FIG. 10, the controller 160 includes a network application interface 1030 and a communication module 1031 (configured as a hardware or software module) for the bot 120 to communicate with a control console 1010 and / or a cloud-based service (e.g., for bot software updates). The controller 160 is programmed with a process control algorithm and state machine 1032 to cause operation of the bot 120 as described herein. A motion application interface 1033 and a vision application interface 1034 are also provided within controller 160 such that process control algorithms and state machine 1032 interfaces with motion controller 1035 and vision processor 1036 of bot 120. Bot 120 includes any suitable built-in communications network 1037 (such as EtherCAT® or other suitable network) that communicatively couples cameras, drives, motors, sensors, actuators, switches, etc. (as described herein) to their respective motion controllers 1035 or vision processor 1036. While controller 160 of bot 120 is described, it should be understood that the controllers of devices 1020A-1020n of other tire changing system 100 are substantially similar to controller 160.

[0027] In other embodiments, the bot 120 includes two or more robotic arms 126, 126A (for illustrative purposes, two arms are shown in FIG. 1 , but in other embodiments, three or more arms may be present). Each of the two or more robotic arms 126, 126A has a different respective arm joint axis (noting that each robotic arm 126, 126A includes a respective axis of joint AX1-AX6) and a different respective end effector 128, 128A positioned to act on a wheel 111W or tire 111T mounted on (or off) the vehicle 110. Here, in one or more embodiments, each robotic arm 126, 126A holds a different one of the plurality of tools (noting that in some embodiments, the tools are also interchangeable as described above). Furthermore, the above-described tools are combined in some embodiments, such that a single combined tool performs several tasks. For example, in one aspect, the wheel assembly grip 129A is combined with one or more of a valve stem cap installation tool 129B, a valve stem cap removal tool 129C, a tire deflation tool 129D, a tire installation / removal tool 129E, a valve core installation tool 129F, a valve core removal tool 129G, a tire bead breaker tool 129H, a wheel cleaning tool 129I, a lug wrench 129J, a tire balancing bead dispenser 129K, a tire inflation tool 129L, a tire balancer 129M, and / or any other suitable tool to effect replacement of a tire 111T (noting that any other combinations of various tools may be effected and are within the scope of the present disclosure).

[0028] Wheel assembly grip 129A may have any suitable configuration for gripping wheel assembly 111 for transporting the wheel assembly to or from vehicle 110, for example, guided by position information provided by any suitable sensors, such as those described herein, via the joints of at least one robotic arm 126. For illustrative purposes only, wheel assembly grip 129A may have any suitable configuration and / or components for effecting transport of wheel assembly 111; suitable examples of wheel assembly grips may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,298, issued June 30, 1992; U.S. Pat. No. 9,757,828, issued September 12, 2017; and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017 / 0334073, issued November 23, 2017, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. The wheel assembly grip 129A includes an end effector mount that couples the wheel assembly grip 129A to an end effector 128 of at least one robotic arm 126.

[0029] The valve stem cap installation tool 129B has any suitable configuration for installing a valve stem cap 2101 onto a valve stem 2100 of the wheel 111W. For illustrative purposes only, the valve stem cap installation tool 129B includes any suitable valve stem cap holder configured to thread the valve stem cap 2101 onto the valve stem 2100. In one embodiment, the valve stem cap holder, guided via the joints of the at least one robotic arm 126 and by position information provided by any suitable sensor (located on or external to the bot 120), such as those described herein, picks up a valve stem cap 2101, for example, from any suitable rack accessible to or housed by the bot 120 (or from any other suitable location, such as provided via the valve stem cap holder). Through the joints of the at least one robotic arm 126 and guided by position information provided by any suitable sensors such as those described herein, the valve stem cap 2101 is aligned with and installed onto the valve stem 2100. The valve stem cap installation tool 129B includes an end effector mount that couples the valve stem cap installation tool 129B to the end effector 128 of the at least one robotic arm 126.

[0030] The valve stem cap removal tool 129C is substantially similar to the valve stem cap installation tool 129B (or has any other suitable configuration for removing a valve stem cap 2101 from a valve stem 2100), but rather than picking up the valve stem cap 2101 or feeding it into a valve stem cap holder, the valve stem cap is ejected from the valve stem cap holder after removal and placed into any suitable storage hopper. Otherwise, the valve stem cap removal tool 129C operates in a manner that is substantially the reverse of the valve stem cap installation tool 129B. The valve stem cap removal tool 129C includes an end effector mount 129C that couples the valve stem cap removal tool 129C to an end effector 128 of at least one robotic arm 126. The valve stem cap 2101 may be removed or installed with the wheel 111W mounted in situ on the vehicle 110, or with the wheel 111W removed from (i.e., positioned off of) the vehicle 110.

[0031] The tire deflation tool 129D has any suitable configuration for deflating (deflating) the tire 111T via the valve stem 2100 or by puncturing the sidewall of the tire 111T. For illustrative purposes only and not by way of limitation, the tire deflation tool 129D includes an end effector mount that couples the tire deflation tool 129D to the end effector 128 of the at least one robotic arm 126. The tire deflation tool includes a suitable needle or pin extending from the end effector mount and is configured to extend, guided by position information provided by any suitable sensor, such as those described herein, into the valve stem 2100, for example, to depress the valve 1910V of the valve core 1910 of the wheel 111W to deflate the tire 111T mounted to the wheel 111W. In other aspects, the tire deflation tool 129D has any suitable configuration and / or components for deflating a tire. In one embodiment, the tire deflation tool 129D on the joint of at least one robotic arm 126 deflates the tire 111T attached to the wheel 111W while the wheel 111W is mounted in situ on the vehicle 110, while in other embodiments, the tire deflation tool 129D on the joint of at least one robotic arm 126 deflates the tire 111T attached to the wheel 111W while the wheel 111W is removed from (i.e., positioned away from) the vehicle 110.

[0032] The valve core removal tool 129G further effects deflation of the tire 111T and / or replacement of a damaged / defective valve core 1910. The valve core removal tool 129G has any suitable configuration for engaging and removing the valve core 1910 from the valve stem 2100. For exemplary and non-limiting purposes only, the valve core removal tool 129G includes an end effector mount that couples the valve core removal tool 129G to the end effector 128 of the at least one robotic arm 126. The valve core removal tool 129G includes any suitable valve core engagement coupled to the end effector mount and guided via the joints of the at least one robotic arm 126 and by position information provided by any suitable sensor, such as those described herein, to effect unthreading of the valve core 1910 from the valve stem 2100. For example, any suitable sensor such as those described herein identifies the position and orientation of the valve core 1910, and based on the identified position and orientation, a valve core engagement tool is positioned relative to the valve core 1910 via a joint of the at least one robotic arm 126 to engage the valve core 1910 and effect removal of the valve core 1910 from the valve stem 2100 by the valve core removal tool 129G. The removed valve core 1910 may then be ejected from the valve core removal tool 129G in any suitable manner (e.g., compressed air, etc.) into any suitable holding bin. In other embodiments, the valve core removal tool 129G has any suitable configuration and / or components for removing a valve core from a valve stem.

[0033] The valve core installation tool 129F is substantially similar to the valve core removal tool 129G, except that here the valve core engagement unthreads the valve core 1910 from the valve stem 2100. Here, any suitable sensors, such as those described herein, are used to identify the position and orientation of the valve stem 2100 and the valve core 1900, and the valve core 1900 is held in any suitable rack 1700 accessible to or housed by the robot 120. Based on the identified position and orientation of the valve core 1910, the valve core installation tool 129F grasps the valve core 1910 via the joints of at least one robotic arm 126 and positions the valve core 1910 relative to the valve stem 2100, and installs the valve core 1910 within the valve stem 2100 based on the identified position and orientation of the valve stem 2100. In other embodiments, the valve core installation tool 129F has any suitable configuration and / or components for installing a valve core to a valve stem. The valve core 1910 can be installed or removed with the wheel 111W installed in situ on the vehicle 110, or with the wheel 111W removed from (i.e., positioned off of) the vehicle 110.

[0034] The tire mounting / removal tool 129E has any suitable configuration for mounting / removing (e.g., displacing the bead 300 of the tire 111T over the flange 310 of the wheel 111W) the tire 111T onto or from the wheel 111W. For illustrative purposes only and not by way of limitation, the tire mounting / removal tool 129E includes an end effector mount that couples the mounting / removal tool 129E to the end effector 128 of the at least one robotic arm 126. The tire mounting / removal tool 129E includes a tool head substantially similar to that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,298 (incorporated herein by reference above) or that found on a conventional semi-automated tire mounting machine. The tire mounting / removal tool 129E can be positioned relative to the tire 111T and wheel 111W to mount or remove the tire 111T from or to the wheel 111W via joints of at least one robotic arm 126 guided by sensor information from any suitable sensors, such as those described herein. In other aspects, the tire mounting / removal tool 129E has any suitable configuration and / or components for mounting / removing a tire. In one embodiment, the tire mounting / removal tool 129E engages the tire 111T of the wheel 111W mounted on the vehicle 110 on a joint of at least one robotic arm 126 and causes the tire 111T to be mounted on the wheel 111W and removed from the wheel 111W while the wheel 111W is mounted in situ on the vehicle 110, while in other embodiments, the tire mounting / removal tool 129E engages the tire 111T of the wheel 111W mounted on the vehicle 110 on a joint of at least one robotic arm 126 and causes the tire 111T to be mounted on the wheel 110W and removed from the wheel 111W while the wheel 111W is removed from (i.e., positioned off) the vehicle 110.

[0035] The tire bead breaker tool 129H has any suitable configuration for removing (breaking off) the bead of the tire 111T from the flange 310 of the wheel 111W. For illustrative purposes only and not by way of limitation, the tire mounting / removal tool 129E includes an end effector mount that couples the tire mounting / removal tool 129E to the end effector 128 of the at least one robotic arm 126. The tire bead breaker tool 129H includes any suitable wedge, slider, or other tire engagement configured to slide or move the tire bead 300 toward the centerline of the wheel 111W (i.e., in a direction along the axis of rotation 390 of the wheel 111W) to break the tire bead 300 from the flange 310 of the wheel 111W. The tire bead breaker tool 129H is positioned relative to the tire 111T and wheel 111W via the joints of at least one robotic arm 126 guided by sensor information from any suitable sensor, such as those described herein, to effect breaking of the tire bead 300. In other aspects, the tire bead breaker tool 129H has any suitable configuration and / or components for breaking the bead of the tire 111T, and the term "break the tire bead" is known by those skilled in the art. In one embodiment, the tire bead breaker tool 129H on the joint of at least one robotic arm 126 removes the bead 300 of the tire 111T from the wheel 111W while the wheel 111W is mounted in situ on the vehicle 110, while in other embodiments, the tire bead breaker tool 129H on the joint of at least one robotic arm 126 removes the bead 300 of the tire 111T from the wheel 111W while the wheel 111W is removed from (i.e., positioned off of) the vehicle 110.

[0036] The wheel cleaning tool 129I has any suitable configuration for cleaning the wheel 111W. For illustrative purposes only and not by way of limitation, the wheel cleaning tool 129I includes an end effector mount that couples the wheel cleaning tool 129I to the end effector 128 of the at least one robotic arm 126. The wheel cleaning tool 129I includes one or more of a brush, a sponge, a towel, a spray nozzle, etc. that engages the wheel 111W to remove dirt, grime, and grease from the wheel 111W. The wheel cleaning tool 129I is positioned relative to the wheel 111W via a joint of the at least one robotic arm 126 guided by sensor information from any suitable sensor, such as those described herein, to effect cleaning of the wheel 111W. In other aspects, the wheel cleaning tool 129I has any suitable configuration and / or components for cleaning a wheel. The wheel cleaning tool 129I may clean the wheel 111W with the wheel 111W mounted in situ on the vehicle 110 or with the wheel 111W removed from (i.e., positioned off of) the vehicle 110.

[0037] The lug wrench 129J has any suitable configuration for installing or removing lug bolts 350 or lug nuts 351 from a wheel hub to remove or install a wheel 111W and tire 111T (or tire assembly 111) to or from the vehicle 110. In one aspect, the lug wrench 129J may be substantially similar to those described in U.S. Patent Nos. 5,125,298 and 9,757,828 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017 / 0334073, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, where any suitable sensors, such as those described herein, are used to identify the position and orientation of the lug bolts 350 or lug nuts 351. Based on the identified location and orientation of the lug bolt 350 or lug nut 351, the lug wrench 129J, via the joints of the at least one robotic arm 126, threads or unthreads the lug bolt 350 or lug nut 351 into or from the wheel hub of the vehicle 110. In other embodiments, the lug wrench 129J has any suitable configuration and / or components for installing or removing the lug bolt 350 or lug nut 351.

[0038] The tire balancing bead dispenser 129K has any suitable configuration for inserting a tire balancing bead inside the tire 111T before the tire bead 300 is seated on the flange 310 of the wheel 111W. For illustrative purposes only and not by way of limitation, the tire balancing bead dispenser 129K includes an end effector mount that couples the tire balancing bead dispenser 129K to the end effector 128 of the at least one robotic arm 126. For illustrative purposes only, in one or more embodiments, the tire balancing bead dispenser 129K includes any suitable hopper from which loose tire balancing beads are dispensed into the tire 111T. The tire balancing bead dispenser 129K is positioned relative to the tire 111T and wheel 111W via the articulation of at least one robotic arm 126 guided by sensor information from any suitable sensor, such as those described herein, that provides for the dispensing of tire balancing beads (e.g., via a nozzle) into the tire 111T. As another example, in one or more embodiments, the tire balancing bead dispenser 129K includes any suitable hopper in which bags of pre-packaged tire beads are stored. In this example, the robotic arm 126, 126A of the bot 120 is configured to remove an appropriate number of pre-packaged bags of tire beads from the hopper for insertion into the tire 111T without destroying the bags, which move away from the vehicle's motion (e.g., after the tire is mounted on the vehicle and the vehicle is driven), releasing the tire beads, and the bags completely disintegrating over time. In other aspects, the tire balancing bead dispenser 129K has any suitable configuration / components for dispensing tire balancing beads into the tire 111T.In one embodiment, the tire balancing bead dispenser 129K is configured to dispense tire balancing beads into the tire 111T when the wheel 111W is mounted in situ on the vehicle 110 and before the tire bead 300 of the tire 111T is seated against the wheel 111W, while in other embodiments, the tire balancing bead dispenser 129K is configured to dispense tire balancing beads into the tire 111T when the wheel 111W is removed from (i.e., positioned away from) the vehicle 110 and before the tire bead 300 of the tire 111T is seated against the wheel 111W.

[0039] The tire inflation tool 129L has any suitable configuration for inflating (filling the tire 111T) the tire 111T (setting the tire bead 300 on the wheel flange 310). For illustrative purposes only and not by way of limitation, the tire inflation tool 129L includes an end effector mount that couples the tire inflation tool 129L to the end effector 128 of the at least one robotic arm 126. In one or more embodiments, the tire inflation tool includes a valve nozzle, substantially similar to a conventional tire inflator, that couples with a valve stem for inflating the tire 111T. As can be appreciated, a compressed air source (e.g., a tank, a compressor, etc.) is coupled to the valve nozzle to provide air (or nitrogen or other gas) to inflate the tire 111T. The tire inflation tool 129L is positioned relative to the valve stem 2100 via a joint of the at least one robotic arm 126 guided by sensor information from any suitable sensor, such as those described herein, to effect inflation of the tire 111T. In one or more other examples, the tire inflation tool 129L comprises a bead blast nozzle. The bead blast nozzle is positioned at the transition between the tire bead and the wheel flange in a manner similar to that described above. The bead blast nozzle emits a short, high-volume "blast" of gas (air, nitrogen, etc.) (from the compressed air source) into the interior of the tire at the transition to rapidly inflate the tire and seat the bead against the wheel flange. In one or more other examples, the bead blast nozzle is used in conjunction with a valve nozzle, where the bead blast nozzle seats the bead and the valve nozzle regulates the pressure inside the tire to a predetermined, specified pressure (e.g., as specified by the vehicle or tire manufacturer). In other aspects, the tire inflation tool 129L has any suitable configuration and / or components for inflating the tire 111T.In one embodiment, the tire inflation tool 129L on the joint of at least one robotic arm 126 inflates / seats the bead of the tire 111T mounted on the wheel 111W when the wheel 111W is mounted in situ on the vehicle 110, while in other embodiments, the tire inflation tool 129L on the joint of at least one robotic arm 126 inflates / seats the bead of the tire 111T mounted on the wheel 111W when the wheel 111W is removed from (i.e., positioned off) the vehicle 110.

[0040] The tire balancer 129M has any suitable configuration for balancing the wheel assembly 111. For non-limiting exemplary purposes only, the tire balancer 129M includes an end effector mount that couples the tire balancer 129M to the end effector 128 of the at least one robotic arm 126. The tire balancer 129M is configured to equalize the combined weight of the tire 111T and wheel 111W (i.e., the wheel assembly 111) rotating at a wheel operating speed of about 60 mph or greater (in other embodiments, the operating speed may be less than about 60 mph). In one embodiment, the tire balancer 129M is configured to balance the wheel assembly 111 off the vehicle 110 and is substantially similar to a conventional tire balancer, but may be housed by at least one robotic arm 126, while in other embodiments, the tire balancer 129M is configured to balance the wheel assembly 111 on or in situ on the vehicle 110 and includes rollers that drive the rotation of the wheel assembly 111 to determine where to place the wheel weights, and a wheel weight dispenser (such as one of the robotic arms 126, 126A that picks up multiple wheel weights from a hopper and applies them to the wheel at a location identified by the tire balancer 129M) to place the wheel weights on the wheel 111W. In other embodiments, the tire balancer 129M has any suitable configuration and / or components for balancing the wheel assembly 111.

[0041] 1 and 10, tire changing system 100 includes a control architecture 1000 having a control console 1010 (including a suitable processor and memory for controlling aspects of tire changing system 100, as described herein, noting that memory may be memory resident within tire changing system 100 or any suitable memory accessible by a processor, such as cloud-based memory, as described herein) communicatively connected (e.g., wirelessly, via wire, conveyed, or remotely located) to devices 1020A-1020n. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, control console 1010 is located on floor 198 and remotely connected (e.g., via either a wired or wireless connection) to devices 1020A-1020n. Referring to the controller 160 of the bot 120, for exemplary purposes only, the controller 160 (including a suitable processor and memory 161 for controlling the operation of the bot 120 as described herein) is in communication with the control console 1010 and is communicatively connected (e.g., wirelessly, via wire, transported, or remotely located) to the carriage drive 121 and the bot drive 127 to effect lateral movement of the bot 120 along a lateral movement path that effects dynamic positioning of at least one robotic arm 126 with wheels 111W or tires 111T mounted thereon relative to the variable position of the vehicle 110. For example, at a service facility, a vehicle service technician 199 drives the vehicle 110 into a service bay. As can be appreciated, there is nothing that can locate vehicle 110 within the service bay in any particular position, such as may be the case in a vehicle assembly line where vehicles are transported by a conveyor and stopped at designated / predetermined locations (for assembly automation) for assembly operations (e.g., a vehicle may never be located in the same place twice).Furthermore, vehicles serviced within a service facility may have different wheelbases, wheel tracks, ground clearances, cambers, casters, etc., unlike within a vehicle assembly line where assembly operations are performed on vehicles of the same make and model (e.g., many different makes and models of vehicles may be serviced in the same service bay one after the other in any given amount of time). As such, in service facility operations, within any given service bay (e.g., tire change station 101), the vehicle 110 (and its components) have dynamically varying positions relative to the tools / machines in the tire change station 101 (which may change from vehicle to vehicle, or even for the same vehicle, each time the vehicle is driven into and parked in the service bay). Here, the dynamic positioning of the at least one robotic arm 126 relative to the variable position of the vehicle 110 on which the wheel 111W or tire 111T is mounted is arranged such that the joints of the at least one robotic arm 126 engage the wheel or tire engagement tool 129 with the wheel 111W or tire 111T on the vehicle 110 at the variable position.

[0042] To determine the variable position of the vehicle 110, the automated tire changing system 100 includes any suitable electromagnetic radiation and / or optical mapping sensor (e.g., laser scanner, 3D time-of-flight (TOF) camera, etc.) for mapping the tire changing station 101 or at least a portion thereof for improved automatic positioning relative to the vehicle. For example, in one embodiment, the automated tire changing system 100 includes a vision system 162 having any suitable number of cameras 163, 163A, 163B positioned around or within the tire changing station 101 (in some embodiments, one or more of the cameras are mounted on the bot 120 as described below) to detect and reconstruct the environment of the tire changing station 101 to facilitate robotic interaction with the vehicle 110, and a controller receives information / data from the vision system 162 and defines a three-dimensional (3D) virtual environment that may represent the tire changing station 101 in which the bot 120 operates, the 3D virtual environment including a plurality of 3D virtual objects corresponding to respective physical objects in the physical environment (e.g., the vehicle 110, the tire 111T, the wheel 111W, the lift 170, the bot 120, and other features of the tire changing station 101 as described herein). The controller may further define a two-dimensional (2D) image of the tire changing station 101, including a 2D depth map. The controller defines portions of the 2D image corresponding to any one or more physical objects, such as the bot 120, the tire 111T, and the wheel 111W, and a 3D model of the bot 120, the tire 111T, and the wheel 111W is generated based on the portions and the 2D depth map. The controller instructs the bot 120 to engage the tire 111T and the wheel 111W to change the tire 111T as described herein. In one aspect, the virtual environment is updated / generated from real-time three-dimensional imaging data (e.g., point cloud data) from the vision system 162.

[0043] The vision system 162 of the automated tire changing system 100 notifies the controller 160 and enables the controller 160 to provide real-time command inputs to the bot 120 that react in real time to variations in the position of the vehicle 110, variations in the wheel assembly 111 (and its components as described herein), variations in the position of the tire 111T, variations in the wheel position 111W, and variations in the position and other characteristics of the automated tire changing system 100 (referred to herein as "tire change variations") so that the bot 120 is adaptive in influencing the tire change process in a time-optimal manner (automatically and / or in coordination / with the assistance of a service technician 199) to resolve tire change variations in real time and effect the tire change process in a time-optimal manner. Adaptive tire change automation facilitated by the assistance of a real-time vision system further identifies and reacts (automatically and / or in cooperation / coordination with user assistance) to correct abnormal tire change conditions that impede or hinder a time-optimal tire change process.

[0044] The cameras 163, 163A, 163B are configured to provide three-dimensional imaging of each wheel assembly 111 and respective portions of the vehicle 110 and the track, the position of the bot 120, and the assembly and disassembly (e.g., tire changing) process of the wheel assembly 111 (e.g., wheel 111W, tire 111T, valve stem 2100, valve stem cap 2101, etc.) in a real-time updated three-dimensional image. The cameras 163A-163D (see FIG. 2B ) can be positioned to image the four corners of the vehicle 110 to three-dimensionally map substantially the entire tire changing station 10 to resolve features of the bot 120 and wheel assembly 111 (and its components) (e.g., each camera has a field of view for imaging at least two sides of the vehicle 110). As described above, different vehicles 110 serviced by the tire changing station 101 are not located at predetermined positions, and the position of each vehicle 110 driven into the tire changing station 101 varies as described above. The controller 160 is configured to register the variable positions of the vehicle 110 based on imaging data obtained from the vision system 162, register the variable positions of the wheels 111W or tires 111T on the vehicle 110 defined by the variable positions (noting variable positions that may change during a tire changing operation due to vehicle suspension movement, steering movement, wheel hub rotation, etc.) (e.g., record in the memory 161 the position of the vehicle 110 within the tire changing station 101, each tire 111T to be replaced, and each wheel 111W corresponding to the tire 111T to be replaced for later access when directing movement of the bot 120), or register the position of a label or other marker 377 placed on the wheel 111W or tire 111T, for example, by the service technician 199.The labels or markers 377, in one or more embodiments, are removable barcode or symbology labels applied to each wheel 111W (or, in some embodiments, to the fender of the vehicle 110 on or adjacent to each wheel 111W) to indicate, for recognition by one or more of the vision systems described herein, where the bot 120 should "look" for each wheel. The labels or markers 377 reduce the time spent by the vision system to scan and identify the multiple wheel assemblies 111 and their components.

[0045] In one or more embodiments, the vision system 130 is not necessarily configured to image the bot 120 or the surface / track over which the bot 120 traverses; rather, the vision system 130 is configured to image the wheels 111W and / or tires 111T (e.g., wheel assemblies 111 or components thereof) in real time, with the bot 120 making adjustments based on information from the vision system 130. For example, the bot 120 includes a vision system 130, the vision system 130 being coupled to a controller 160. The vision system 130 includes one or more cameras 131 mounted on at least one robotic arm 126 and the carriage 120C. The vision system 130 and the camera 131 are substantially similar to the vision system 162 and the camera 163 described above, except that here, the one or more cameras 131 are mounted on the bot 120 to create a 3D map of at least a portion of the tire changing station 101. In one aspect, the bot 120 may move laterally around the perimeter / perimeter (or portions thereof) of the tire changing station 101, mapping one or more sides of the vehicle to effect a tire change as described herein. In other aspects, the vision system 130 may dynamically map a localized portion of the tire changing station 101 in which the bot 120 operates, where the localized portion of the tire changing station 101 mapped by the vision system 130 is dynamically updated in real time as the bot 120 moves within the tire changing station 101. In yet another aspect, the vision system 130 may cooperate with the vision system 162 such that data from both vision systems 130, 162 are used by the controller 160 to globally map the entire tire changing station 101 (e.g., from the data of the vision system 162) and locally map portions of the tire changing station 101 (e.g., from the data of the vision system 130).In one aspect, the controller 160 registers a variable position of the vehicle 110 based on imaging data obtained from the vision system 130, or registers a variable position of a wheel 111W or tire 111T on the vehicle 110 defined by the variable position (e.g., records in the memory 161 the position of the vehicle 110 within the tire changing station 101, each tire 111T to be replaced, and each wheel 111W corresponding to the tire 111T to be replaced) for later access when directing the movement of the bot 120.

[0046] In one aspect, the carriage 120C has any suitable plurality of positioning sensors 132, and the controller 160 is configured to register a variable position of the vehicle 110, or a variable position of a wheel 111W or tire 111T on the vehicle 110 defined by the variable position, based on data from the plurality of positioning sensors 132. In one aspect, the positioning sensors may be, without limitation, acoustic sensors, light detection and ranging sensors, or any other suitable ranging sensors configured to provide a determination of spatial positioning between objects. In one aspect, the plurality of positioning sensors 132 may be used in conjunction with one or more of the vision systems 130, 162, while in other aspects, one or more of the vision systems (such as the vision system 130) form at least one sensor of the plurality of positioning sensors 132.

[0047] 1 and 3 , at least one of the vision systems 130, 162 is configured to identify the lug pattern 366 of the wheel 111W (i.e., the layout of the wheel mounting holes, where the number of lugs is represented by the diameter of an imaginary circle 366C formed by the centers of the lugs). At least one of the vision systems 130, 162 is configured to identify the size (e.g., head size for selecting a corresponding socket or wrench for removal / installation) of the lug bolts 350 or lug nuts 351 that couple the wheel 111W to the vehicle 110. Identifying the lug pattern 366 and the size of the lug bolts 350 or lug nuts 351 provides, for example, for the selection or automated adjustment of the lug wrench 129J to effect removal or installation of the wheel W (and wheel assembly 111) to or from the vehicle 110.

[0048] 1 and 3 , in one embodiment, at least one of the vision systems 130, 162 is configured by the controller 160 to read tire sidewall information 371 of the tire 111T mounted on the wheel 111W (with the wheel 111W mounted in-situ on the vehicle 110 or removed (i.e., positioned off) it) to identify tire information (e.g., tire size, maximum inflation pressure, speed rating, rotational orientation, etc.) and / or Department of Transportation (DOT) code / information. The identification of the information provides for selection and confirmation of a replacement tire for installation on the wheel 111W. In one embodiment, at least one of the vision systems 130, 162 is configured by the controller 160 to identify the make and model of the vehicle 110 to effect retrieval of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) tire information for the vehicle 110 from memory (e.g., stored in a database in memory 161) (or memory otherwise accessible by the controller 160). Identification of the vehicle make and model and retrieval of OEM tire information provides for selection and confirmation of a replacement tire 111TN for installation on the wheel 111W. In one aspect, at least one of the vision systems 130, 162 is configured, via the controller 160, to inspect the wheel 111W for one or more of damage 333 ( FIG. 3 , e.g., bent wheel flanges, cracks, etc.) and corrosion 334 ( FIG. 3 , e.g., pitting, rust, etc.) so that the wheel is cleaned, repaired, or replaced depending on the extent of the damage and / or corrosion. One or more of the above “inspections” may be performed with the wheel 111W mounted in situ on the vehicle 110 or during a tire change with the wheel 111W removed (i.e., positioned off) the vehicle 110.

[0049] In one aspect, at least one of the vision systems 130, 162 is configured by the controller 160 to read tire sidewall information 371, which in one or more aspects includes the Department of Transportation (DOT) code / information of the replacement or new tire 111TN, to verify that the replacement or new tire 111TN is the correct size based on one or more of the identified tire information and the original tire information. In one aspect, at least one of the vision systems 130, 162 is configured by the controller 160 to read tire sidewall information 371 of the replacement or new tire 111TN to verify the rotational orientation of the replacement or new tire 111TN so that the replacement or new tire 111TN is properly mounted on the vehicle 110. In one or more embodiments, the Department of Transportation (DOT) code / information read by the vision system is associated with the vehicle 110 on which the tire is mounted and stored in association with vehicle information (e.g., vehicle identification number, make, model, etc.) in any suitable database, such as a database in memory 161 (or other suitable memory).

[0050] 1 and 2A, and as described above, in one or more embodiments, the bot 120 traverses the floor 198 without physical constraints (e.g., the carriage 120C is configured for autonomous guidance and unlimited lateral movement on the lateral movement surface or non-deterministic surface 198S of the floor 198). FIG. 2A illustrates an example in which two bots 120 (in other embodiments, there may be more or less than two bots 120) traverse the floor 198 without physical constraints and along a lateral movement path 299. The lateral movement path 299 can be defined in any suitable manner, for example, by one or more guide lines 233, 234 disposed on the floor 198. In one embodiment, the positioning sensor 132 on the carriage 120C includes a line-following sensor configured to identify the guide lines 233, 234 so that the bot 120, under control of the controller 160, moves along the lateral movement path 299. 2A, lateral movement path 299 extends around the perimeter of tire change station 101, extending around all four sides of vehicle 110 and allowing bot 120 to travel therearound. In other aspects, bot 120 is configured to travel laterally along lateral movement path 299 using any suitable form of navigation. For example, and referring also to FIGS. 5-8, in one aspect, bot 120 includes navigation system 133 configured for one or more of simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) navigation, beacon navigation, marker and beacon navigation, and ad-hoc route marker navigation.

[0051] 5, in one embodiment, the navigation system 133 includes a SLAM navigation system that provides the bot 120 with a global coordinate or reference frame REF relative to the tire changing station 101. Here, guidance for the bot 120 is provided by a coordinate system that lacks physical markers or beacons.

[0052] 6-8 , in one embodiment, the navigation system 133 includes one or more of a marker detection sensor 133A and / or a beacon sensor 133B. In one embodiment, the marker detection sensor 133A is configured to detect the location of a marker, such as retroreflective tape (or other suitable markers, such as, without limitation, capacitive or guiding markers (denoted as markers 712), or other optical markers, including bar codes that in one embodiment form one or more guide lines 233, 234) laid on the floor 198 (e.g., on the non-deterministic lateral movement surface of the floor) and / or on any other suitable surface, such as a wall of the service facility, and / or on the vehicle 110 or other components of the tire changing station 101 (e.g., on the automated or semi-automated tire changing machine 182 and the automated or semi-automated tire balancing machine 183, the tire storage rack / cart 187, etc.). In one embodiment, marker detection sensor 133A includes one or more of a photodiode-based sensor, one or more radiation sources (e.g., LEDs), navigation sensors, capacitive sensors, barcode readers, etc. to detect markers. In one embodiment, beacon sensor 133B includes any suitable transmitter and / or receiver configured to actively or passively detect any suitable radio frequency beacon 612 (or any suitable beacon, such as an infrared, laser, or other optical beacon). As can be seen in FIG. 6 , for example, navigation system 133 includes multiple active (e.g., having radio frequency or other (e.g., infrared) beacon transmitters) or passive (e.g., configured to passively return a signal) beacons or tags 612 located at suitable locations in any of tire changing stations 101 (e.g., on automated or semi-automated tire changing machines 182 and automated or semi-automated tire balancing machines 183, tire storage racks / carts 187, etc.).In this case, the beacon sensor 133B is configured to detect signals from the beacons or to detect the beacons themselves in order to locate the bot 120 relative to the vehicle 110 or any other component of the tire changing station 101 (e.g., other bots 120, automated or semi-automated tire changing machines 182 and automated or semi-automated tire balancing machines 183, tire storage racks / carts 187, etc.). By way of example, if beacons 612 are used, each bot 120 should have line of sight to one or more beacons 612; for example, the origin and / or destination beacons may be visible (optically or via radio waves) to the bot 120 for at least any period of time. The bot 120 moves from one beacon (e.g., the origin beacon) towards another (e.g., the destination beacon) until an obstacle intervenes, at which point the bot positioning sensor 132 or vision system 130 can provide the controller with suitable data to avoid the obstacle and continue along the lateral movement path 299. In one aspect, each beacon 612 establishes its own coordinate system, with the beacon being the origin of the coordinate system. Angular encoding (or any other suitable encoding) is used to define the axes of the beacon coordinate system. Angular encoding can also enable other useful properties.

[0053] 7, in one aspect, the navigation system 133 includes a path established by short-range active or passive beacons 612 (substantially similar to those described above) and any suitable markers 712 (such as those described above) mounted on other suitable surfaces, such as the floor and / or walls of the service facility and / or on the vehicle 110 and / or other components of the tire changing station 101 (e.g., on the automated or semi-automated tire changing machine 182 and automated or semi-automated tire balancing machine 183, tire storage rack / cart 187, etc.), thus providing the bot 120 with an approximate global reference frame REF. Here, the placement of the beacons 612 and markers 712 simplifies sensor distance requirements compared to SLAM navigation.

[0054] Referring also to FIG. 8 , the navigation system 133, in one aspect, includes an ad hoc marker system including one or more markers 816 placed, in some cases temporarily, on the floor and / or other suitable surfaces (such as the walls of the service facility and / or on the vehicle 110 or other components of the tire changing station 101 (e.g., the automated or semi-automated tire changing machine 182 and automated or semi-automated tire balancing machine 183, the tire storage rack / cart 187 (also referred to as a carry cart), etc.). The route markers 816 indicating the lateral movement path 299 of the bot 120 are used in situations where line of sight between multiple beacons does not exist or where movement in a straight path between multiple beacons is undesirable. For example, the route markers enable the bot 120 to avoid obstacles within the tire changing station 101. To enable recognition, the bot 120 may, for example, illuminate the tape or line using conventional infrared (IR) light-emitting diodes (LEDs), for example. In one embodiment, the bot 120 detects the tape or line using a position-sensitive detector (e.g., one of multiple positioning sensors 132) comprised of a separate component (i.e., not a camera) for servoing to the tape or line. The detector measures the degree of retroreflectivity with a view to eliminating false positives. In one embodiment, the bot 120 servos directly to the line. In one embodiment, the bot 120 can servo at any selected offset to the line. Offset servoing enables two important properties. When placing a line to mark the bot 120's lateral travel path 299, the vehicle service technician 199 does not need to provide space between the line and an object (such as a vehicle, a semi-automated or automated tire changing machine 182, an automated or semi-automated tire balancing machine 183, etc.). Each time the bot 120 finds that its path is partially obstructed by an object, it increases its offset from the line so that it can follow the line without colliding with the object.A second feature enabled by following an offset allows two bots 120 to meet while traveling along a line in opposite directions to avoid a collision. If the bots 120 determine that a collision is imminent, each can shift its position relative to the line. The bots 120 can thus proceed without impeding each other.

[0055] As can be appreciated, in one aspect, the bot 120 uses one or more of the navigation systems described herein to navigate the tire changing station 101 and transport the tire 111T, wheel assembly 111, wheel 111W, etc. from one location to another. In other aspects, the bot 120 includes any suitable location system, such as an internal GPS, that locates the bot 120 within the volume of the tire changing station 101 so that the bot 120 and / or controller 160 know where the position and orientation of the bot 120 is within the tire changing station 101 as desired.

[0056] In one or more embodiments, referring to FIG. 2D, navigation of the bot 120 is simplified by providing one or more rails or tracks 236 and configuring the carriage 120C to move along the rails 236. For example, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2D, the bot 120 moves laterally on rails 236 disposed along one or more sides of the vehicle 110. In one or more embodiments, the carriage 120C is configured as a multi-stage carriage (in a manner similar to that described above) that moves as a unit in direction 237 along the rails 236 (i.e., all stages of the multi-stage carriage move together), and the stages of the carriage 120C move in direction 238 in a direction that moves laterally relative to the rails 236 such that the at least one robotic arm 126 moves, with the stages moving toward and away from the vehicle independently of the movement of the at least one robotic arm 126. 2D shows two bots 120 (in other embodiments, there may be more or less than two bots 120) moving laterally across floor 198 along lateral movement path 299 and guided by rails 236. In this embodiment, lateral movement path 299 is defined by rails 236. In the example shown in FIG. 2D , lateral movement path 299 extends around the perimeter of tire changing station 101, extending around all four sides of vehicle 110 and allowing bots 120 to move around them.

[0057] 1, 2B, and 2C, in one embodiment, as described above, the bot 120 is configured to move laterally along the lateral movement path 299 via physical constraints (e.g., the carriage 120C is guided by rails or tracks). A non-limiting example of a tire changing station 101 including a bot 120 having a carriage 120C guided by tracks is shown in FIGS. 2B and 2C. In FIG. 2B, the tire changing station 101 includes a pair of tracks 222A, 222B extending along the driver's and passenger's sides of the vehicle 110. Each pair of tracks 222A, 222B has two bots 120 (in other embodiments, there may be more or less than two bots 120) positioned thereon for movement along the respective lateral movement path 299 defined by each pair of tracks 222A, 222B. In this embodiment, tire changing system 100 includes its carry cart 187 (described in more detail herein) on which tires (either replacement tires or tires to be removed from a vehicle) are stored. Bot 120 is configured to pick and place tires 111T to or from carry cart 187 to effect tire changes. Bots 129 in this example (and other examples described herein in which multiple bots 120 are present) are configured in one embodiment to work in coordination with one another to hand tires 111T from cart 187 to bots 120 that may not have access to cart 187 (or for tire change operations via any other suitable coordination), e.g., due to the configuration of tracks 222A, 222B.

[0058] 2C shows a tire changing station 101 having a single bot 120 (in other embodiments, there may be more than one bot 120) that travels laterally along a set of tracks 222 extending along both the passenger and driver's sides of the vehicle 110, allowing the single bot 120 to change all four vehicle tires. Referring also to FIG. 1 , in this example, the tire changing system 100 includes an automated or semi-automated tire changing machine 182 and an automated or semi-automated tire balancing machine 183, with the bot 120 configured to remove the wheel assembly 111 from the vehicle and transport the wheel assembly 111 to the tire changing machine 182. Here, the end effector 128 on the joint of at least one robotic arm 126, to which a wheel or tire engaging tool 129 is coupled, is configured to position the wheel 111W, to which a tire 111T is attached, onto the automated (or semi-automated) tire changing machine. When removing the tire 111T from the wheel 111W, the robot end effector 128 is configured to remove the tire 111T (e.g., a used or old tire 111TU) that is to be removed from the wheel 111W by the automated (or semi-automated) tire changing machine 182 from the tire changing machine 182. When attaching the tire 111T to the wheel 111W, the end effector 128 is configured to place another tire 111T (e.g., a replacement tire 111TN) on the automated (or semi-automated) tire changing machine 182 for attachment of the other tire 111TN to the wheel 111W by the tire changing machine 182. The end effector 128 on a joint of the at least one robot arm 126, to which the wheel or tire engaging tool 129 is coupled, is configured to place the wheel 111W, to which the other tire 111TN is to be attached, on the automated (or semi-automated) tire balancing machine 183. Here, in one or more embodiments, one of the robotic arms 126, 126A picks up multiple wheel weights from a hopper and applies them to the wheels at locations identified by the tire balancer 183.Once balanced, the wheel assembly 111 can be mounted onto the vehicle 110 by the bot 120.

[0059] As can be appreciated (and shown in FIGS. 1, 2A, and 5-8), the tire changing system 100 is configured, in some embodiments, to provide both in-situ tire changing, where the wheel 111W is mounted in-situ on the vehicle 110, and tire changing, performed by the tire changing machine 182 and tire balancing machine 183, where the wheel 111W is removed from (i.e., positioned off of) the vehicle 110. In-situ tire changing and tire changing with the wheel 111W removed from the vehicle may be effected via the control console 1010. For example, as described above, the vehicle service technician 199 may select in-situ tire changing and / or tire changing with the wheel 111W removed from the operator graphical user interface 1004. The operator graphical user interface 1004, in one aspect, is further configured to allow the vehicle service technician 199 to select which tire (e.g., passenger side front, passenger side rear, driver side front, or driver side rear) is to be replaced in situ or by removing the wheel 111W so that in situ and removed wheel tire changes are performed on a common vehicle.

[0060] The control console 1010 is further configured to allow the vehicle service technician 199 to select which tire changing operations should be performed, for example, via input on the operator graphical user interface 1004. For example, the vehicle service technician 199 can select, and the control console 1010 is configured to effect such selections, the type of balancing to be performed on the tire (e.g., wheel weight, tire bead, etc.), whether the valve core has been replaced, which tire to replace, the make / model / size of tire to install, whether some tire changing operations should be performed manually or in a semi-autonomous manner, etc. In some embodiments, there is a pre-programmed tire changing routine 1061 stored in a memory, such as a database 1060, corresponding to each type of vehicle (car, truck, sports car, make, model, etc.), each type of wheel or tire, or each customer. These pre-programmed tire changing routines 1061 are selectable, for example, by the vehicle service technician 199 via the operator graphical user interface 1004, and define the method of tire changing (which tire changing process should be performed and whether one or more tires are changed in situ or by removing the wheel).

[0061] 1, 2A-2C, and 5-8, in one embodiment, the automated tire changing system 100 includes a plurality of carry carts 187 configured to hold the tires 111T, wheels 111W, and / or wheel assemblies 111. In one or more embodiments, one or more of the plurality of carry carts 187 are manual carts that are moved from location to location, for example, by a vehicle service technician 199. In one or more other embodiments, one or more of the plurality of carts 187 are automated carts having cart drives 188, the carts including a controller 160′ and memory 161′, a vision system 130′, a positioning sensor 132′, and a navigation system 163′ substantially similar to the controller 160 and memory 161, the vision system 130, the positioning sensor 132, and the navigation system 133 of the bot 120 (noting that manual and automated carts can be used alongside each other). Here, the carts autonomously navigate through the tire changing station 101 in a manner substantially similar to that described above with respect to the bot 120. In still other embodiments, one or more of the carts 187 (e.g., manual carts) are configured to be towed to predetermined positions within the tire changing station 101 by the bot 120 or automated cart.

[0062] 1 and 4, the lift 170 of the automated tire changing system 100 is configured to adjust to variable positions of the vehicle 110 as the vehicle is driven into the tire changing station 101. For example, the lift 170 may be a conventional two-post lift or other vehicle lift having adjustable arms / supports that are variably positioned under the vehicle such that, when the lift 170 is driven, the lift 170 moves the vehicle vertically and raises the tire 111T of the vehicle 110 from the traverse surface or floor 198 to effect the replacement of the tire 111T. In other embodiments, as shown in FIG. 4, the lift 170 includes a set of ramps 400A, 400B disposed within the tire changing station 101. The vehicle 110 is driven onto the ramps 400A, 400B, and vehicle supports 401, 402 (only two are shown, but at least four are used) are positioned under the vehicle 110. Vehicle supports 401, 402 are any suitable vehicle supports, such as jack stands, inflatable air bladders / bags, pneumatic or hydraulic jacks, etc., configured to support the weight of vehicle 110. Each ramp 400A, 400B includes a plurality of retractable vehicle supports 450A-450n (where "n" represents an integer greater than or equal to 1 that sets an upper limit on the number of retractable vehicle supports) arranged along the length L of the respective ramp 400A, 400B. Each of the plurality of retractable vehicle supports 450A-450n is manually or automatically retractable to move vertically downward away from its respective tire 111T to remove the normal force exerted on the tire 111T by the tire support surface 407 of the ramp 400A, 400B, thereby clearing the tire 111T from the tire support surface 407 and effecting tire replacement. As can be seen in FIG. 4, the arrangement of the retractable vehicle supports 450A-450n is such that with the vehicle 110 in any position along the length L of the ramps 400A, 400B, one or more of the retractable vehicle supports 450A-450n are positioned under the tires (i.e., the vehicle can be variably positioned anywhere along the ramps 400A, 400B).One or more retractable vehicle supports 450A-450n positioned under any one of a plurality of vehicle tires may be retracted to effect tire replacement. The ramps 400A, 400B have a height H that positions the vehicle in any suitable vertical position accessible by the bot 120, which may be lower than the vehicle height required to manually change the tire.

[0063] As can be appreciated, the automated tire changing system 100, in one or more embodiments, includes a fence or other barrier 227 (see FIG. 2B ) for substantially isolating the vehicle service technician 199 from the bot 120 and the automated carry cart 187 during operation. In some embodiments, the barrier 227 has any suitable interlocking device that opens a door to the barrier 227 and / or terminates power to a specific axis of motion, or all axes of motion, of the bot 120 (and any other automated control devices of the tire changing system 100) upon entry into the barrier 227. In other embodiments, the bot 120 and the automated carry cart 187 are configured to operate in coordination with the service technician 199 to transfer tires 111T, wheels 111W, wheel assemblies 111, etc., to and from the vehicle service technician 199.

[0064] The control architecture 1000 of the tire changing system 100 is configured to accommodate the addition or removal of tire changing equipment 1020A-1020n and / or service bays in a plug-and-play manner. For example, the tire changing system 100 can change its control architecture as service facility demand increases (or for any other reason) and add additional bots 120, carry carts 187, barriers, and other equipment 1020A-1020n as described herein to the tire changing station 101 to increase throughput without providing centralized control of the equipment 1020A-1020n. By way of example, the control console 1010 and devices may be configured in a pairing communication mode such that the control console 1010 detects new devices 1020A-1020n (to be added) and, upon detection, the control console 1010 receives device type and device configuration information from the devices 1020A-1020n and registers the devices 1020A-1020n for use in the tire changing system 100. Sensors incorporated into the devices 1020A-1020B and / or the vision system 162 may facilitate calibration and / or interoperation of the newly added devices 1020A-1020n in the tire changing system 100. Additional tire changing stations 101 can be added to the control console 1010 in a similar manner, for example by selecting the "Add tire changing station 101" function of the operator graphical user interface 1004 and then making the equipment of the new tire changing station (to be added) discoverable to the control console by using a pairing communication mode in which the equipment is registered with and associated with the new tire changing station. In other aspects, each tire changing station 101 can have its own control console 1010, if desired.

[0065] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a tire changing method is described with reference to FIGS. 1, 3, 4, and 9A-9C. In some embodiments, the method includes stopping or otherwise impeding rotation of a wheel hub of a vehicle so that the wheel assembly 111 or tire 111T can be removed. Preventing rotation of the wheel hub can be accomplished in any suitable manner, such as by activating the vehicle's brake system or by any suitable mechanical device that otherwise prevents or stops the rotation of a wheel on the vehicle 110. In other embodiments, the vehicle's drive train prevents rotation of the wheel hub without the use of such a mechanical device. At least one bot 120 is provided (FIG. 9A, block 900). In one or more embodiments, one or more of a cart 187, a tire balancing machine 183, a tire changing machine 182, a lift 170, and a vision system 162 are included (i.e., one or more of the tire changing stations 101). The bot 120, with the controller 160 communicatively connected to the carriage drive 121 and the bot drive 127, moves laterally along the lateral movement path 299 (FIG. 9A, block 901) to effect dynamic positioning of the at least one robotic arm 126 relative to the variable position of the vehicle 110 on which the wheel 111W or tire 111T is mounted. In one embodiment, the tire 111T of the vehicle 110 is raised from the lateral movement surface or floor 198 (FIG. 9A, block 902) to effect tire replacement, as described above. In other embodiments, the normal force exerted on the tire 111T by the tire support surface 407 is removed to move the tire 111T away from the tire support surface 407 to effect tire replacement, as described above (FIG. 9A, block 903).

[0066] The variable position of the vehicle, or the variable position of the wheel or tire on the vehicle defined by the variable position, is registered with the controller 160 and at least the positioning sensor 132 of the carriage 120C (FIG. 9A, block 904). (In some embodiments, the vision systems 162, 130 are also used to determine the variable position and provide registration of the variable position to the controller 160, as described above.) In one or more embodiments, the tire changing method includes reading the tire sidewall information 371 of the tire 111T mounted on the wheel 111W (FIG. 9A, block 905) to identify the tire information (using one or more of the vision systems 130, 162 as described herein) with the wheel 111W mounted in situ on the vehicle 110 or with the wheel 111W removed from the vehicle 110. In one or more embodiments, the tire changing method includes identifying the make and model of the vehicle 110 and resulting in retrieval of original equipment (OEM) tire information for the vehicle 110 from memory 160 accessible by controller 160 (as described herein and using one or more of vision systems 130, 162) (FIG. 9A, block 906).

[0067] At least one robotic arm 126 is articulated under the control of the controller 160 with a bot arm degree of freedom that effects engagement contact of the wheel or tire engagement tool 129 and the wheel 111W or tire 111T mounted on the vehicle 110 to effect changing of the tire 111T by the bot 120 (FIG. 9, block 907). As can be appreciated from this disclosure, tire changing can be performed with the wheel 111W mounted in situ on the vehicle or with the wheel 111W removed from the vehicle. For example, with the wheel 111W mounted in situ on the vehicle 110, the tire 111T is removed from the wheel by the bot 120 using at least one wheel or tire engagement tool 129 (such as tire mounting / removal tool 129E) (FIG. 9, block 908). To remove the tire 111T, the tire 111T is deflated ( FIG. 9 , block 915), for example, with a tire deflation tool 129D, and the bead 300 of the tire 111T is removed from the wheel 111W ( FIG. 9B , block 916), for example, with a tire bead breaker tool 129H. As can be appreciated, in some embodiments, deflation of the tire includes valve stem cap removal and / or valve core removal as described herein.

[0068] In one or more embodiments, before or after removal of the tire 111T from the wheel 111W, the wheel is inspected for damage 333 and / or corrosion 334 as described herein, for example, using one or more of the vision systems 130, 162 (FIG. 9B, block 909). In one or more embodiments, the wheel 111W is cleaned, for example, with a wheel cleaning tool 1291 (FIG. 9B, block 910).

[0069] In one or more embodiments, the tire sidewall information 371 of the new or replacement tire 111TN is read ( FIG. 9B , block 912), for example, using one or more of the vision systems 130, 162, to verify the tire 111TN's size, speed rating, rotational orientation, and / or Department of Transportation (DOT) code / information (i.e., to verify that the new or replacement tire is the correct tire for the vehicle 110). The tire 111TN is mounted onto the wheel 111W by the bot 120, for example, using a tire mounting / removal tool 129E ( FIG. 9B , block 913). Mounting the tire 111TN onto the wheel 111W, in some embodiments, includes inflating the tire, for example, with a tire inflation tool 129L. In one or more embodiments, mounting the tire 111TN onto the wheel 111W includes valve stem cap installation and / or valve core installation, as described herein. If the wheel assembly 111 is balanced using a tire balancing bead, the tire balancing bead is inserted by the bot 120 into the tire 111TN (with the tire 111TN on the wheel 111W but with the tire bead 300 not seated upright) or before the tire is mounted on the wheel (FIG. 9B, block 911); otherwise, the wheel assembly 111 is balanced by the bot 120 by rotating the wheel assembly 111 and adding a wheel weight as described herein, for example, using a tire balancer 129M (FIG. 9B, block 914).

[0070] If a tire change is performed with the wheel 111W off the vehicle 110, one or more of the vision systems 130, 162 identify the lug pattern 366 and one or more of the sizes of the lug bolts 350 or lug nuts 351 (FIG. 9C, block 917) so that the lug bolts 350 or lug nuts 351 are removed (FIG. 9C, block 918), for example, using a lug wrench 129J. The wheel 111W, onto which the used or old tire 111TU is mounted, is removed from the vehicle 110 (FIG. 9C, block 919), for example, by a wheel assembly grip 129A. In one embodiment, the wheel assembly 111 to be removed is placed by the bot 120 onto an automated or semi-automated tire changer 182, where the old tire 111TU is removed from the wheel 111W (FIG. 9C, block 920). The bot 120 removes the unmounted tire 111TU from the wheel 111W (FIG. 9C, block 921) and retrieves a new or replacement tire 111TN from the cart 187 or any other suitable tire holding area. The new tire 111TN is placed on a wheel in the automated or semi-automated tire changing machine 182 (FIG. 9C, block 923), and the tire 111TN is mounted on the wheel 111W and inflated (FIG. 9C, block 925) to form the wheel assembly 1111. In one embodiment, the bot 120 transfers the wheel assembly 111 from the tire changing machine 182 to the tire balancing machine 183 (FIG. 9C, block 924), the wheel assembly 111 is rotated, and a wheel weight is applied by the service technician 199 or by the bot 120 (as described herein), while in other embodiments in which the tire is balanced using a tire balancing bead, the bot 120 inserts a tire balancing bead (a loose tire balancing bead or a pre-packaged bead as described herein) into the tire 111TN before the tire 111TN is mounted onto the wheel 11W by the tire changing machine 182.The bot 120 transports the wheel assembly 111 to be balanced to the vehicle 110 and installs the wheel assembly 111 on the vehicle 110 (FIG. 9C, block 926), and the lug bolts 350 or lug nuts 351 are installed by the bot 120 (FIG. 9C, block 927). The above method is performed or repeated as needed to replace one or more tires on the vehicle 110.

[0071] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, an autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot includes: A carriage, Carriage frame, a plurality of wheels supporting a carriage frame; and a carriage drive unit including at least one motor defining at least one degree of freedom for driving at least one of a plurality of wheels that cause the carriage to move laterally autonomously along a lateral movement path relative to a lateral movement surface or floor on which the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot is placed; a carriage having a A bot frame, at least one robotic articulated arm attached to the carriage such that the robot frame moves laterally with the carriage as a unit along a lateral movement path; and a bot drive including a motor defining a separate bot arm degree of freedom independent of at least one degree of freedom; Including, At least one robotic articulated arm joint having a robotic arm degree of freedom has an end effector having a wheel or tire engaging tool positioned to provide engaging contact with a wheel or tire mounted on a vehicle; Botframe and a controller communicatively connected to the carriage drive and the bot drive to effect lateral movement of the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot along a lateral movement path that effects dynamic positioning of at least one robotic articulated arm relative to a variable position of the vehicle with the wheel or tire attached; Equipped with.

[0072] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, dynamic positioning of at least one robotic articulated arm relative to variable positions of the vehicle with the wheel or tire mounted thereon is such that the joints of the at least one robotic articulated arm are positioned to engage the wheel or tire engagement tool with the wheel or tire on the vehicle at the variable positions.

[0073] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the carriage is guided on a track.

[0074] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the carriage is configured for autonomous guidance and unlimited lateral movement over the non-deterministic surface of a traversal surface or floor.

[0075] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the carriage has a positioning sensor; The controller Register the variable position of the vehicle, Registering the variable positions of wheels or tires on a vehicle as defined by the variable positions; or Register the location of labels or other markers placed on the wheel or tire It is configured as follows.

[0076] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, an arm joint axis defined by a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm having a robotic arm degree of freedom is independent and separate from the lateral movement path.

[0077] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the at least one robotic articulated arm includes two or more robotic arms, each having a different respective arm joint axis and a different respective end effector positioned to act on a wheel or tire attached to a vehicle.

[0078] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the at least one wheel or tire engagement tool is a tire mounting / removal tool that engages a tire of a wheel mounted to a vehicle on a joint of the at least one robotic articulated arm, resulting in the mounting and removal of the tire onto and from the wheel while the wheel is mounted in situ on the vehicle.

[0079] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot further comprises at least one vision system coupled to the controller, the vision system comprising: Identifying the position and orientation of one or more of the wheels and tires; reading tire sidewall information of a tire attached to a wheel while the wheel is attached to the vehicle in situ, and identifying tire information; identifying the make and model of the vehicle to effect retrieval of original tire information for the vehicle from a memory accessible by the controller; inspecting the wheels for one or more of damage and corrosion while the wheels are mounted in situ on the vehicle; reading tire sidewall information of the replacement or new tire to verify that the replacement or new tire is the correct size based on one or more of the identified tire information and the original tire information; reading the tire sidewall information of the replacement or new tire to identify a Department of Transportation code or information, the Department of Transportation code or information being stored in a database or memory associated with the vehicle's identification information; and Reading the tire sidewall information on the replacement or new tire to determine the rotation direction of the replacement or new tire The device is configured to perform one or more of the following:

[0080] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a tire deflation tool on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm for deflating a tire mounted on a wheel while the wheel is mounted in situ on a vehicle.

[0081] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector comprises a valve stem cap removal tool.

[0082] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector further includes a valve core removal tool.

[0083] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a tire bead breaker tool on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm that removes a tire bead from a wheel while the wheel is mounted in situ on a vehicle.

[0084] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector is configured to clean the wheel while the wheel is in situ mounted on the vehicle.

[0085] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a tire balancer configured to equalize the total weight of a tire and a wheel while the tire and the wheel are rotating at an operational speed and while the wheel is mounted in situ on the vehicle.

[0086] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a tire balancing bead dispenser configured to dispense tire balancing beads onto a tire prior to seating the tire beads against the wheel with the wheel mounted in situ on the vehicle.

[0087] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a tire inflation tool on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm to inflate a tire mounted on a wheel while the wheel is mounted in situ on a vehicle.

[0088] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector further includes a valve core installation tool.

[0089] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector further includes a valve stem cap installation tool.

[0090] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot further comprises at least one vision system coupled to the controller, the vision system comprising: Identifying the position and orientation of one or more of the wheels and tires; Reading tire sidewall information of a tire mounted on a wheel to identify tire information; identifying the make and model of the vehicle to effect retrieval of original tire information for the vehicle from a memory accessible by the controller; Inspecting the wheels for one or more of damage and corrosion; reading tire sidewall information of the replacement or new tire to verify that the replacement or new tire is the correct size based on one or more of the identified tire information and the original tire information; reading the tire sidewall information of the replacement or new tire to identify a Department of Transportation code or information, the Department of Transportation code or information being stored in a database or memory associated with the vehicle's identification information; and Reading the tire sidewall information on the replacement or new tire to determine the rotation direction of the replacement or new tire It is composed of one or more of the following:

[0091] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a tire deflation tool on a joint of the at least one robotic articulated arm to deflate a tire attached to a wheel.

[0092] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector comprises a valve stem cap removal tool.

[0093] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector further includes a valve core removal tool.

[0094] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a tire bead breaker tool on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm to remove a tire bead from a wheel.

[0095] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector is configured to clean the wheel.

[0096] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot further comprises at least one vision system coupled to the controller, the vision system comprising: The lug pattern of the wheel, and The size of the lug bolts or lug nuts that connect the wheels to the vehicle The method is configured to identify:

[0097] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a lug wrench configured to both install and remove lug bolts or lug nuts.

[0098] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a tire inflation tool that inflates a tire attached to a wheel on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm.

[0099] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector further includes a valve core installation tool.

[0100] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a valve stem cap installation tool.

[0101] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a tire balancer configured to equalize the total weight of the tire and wheel while the tire and wheel are rotating at operating speed.

[0102] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a tire balancing bead dispenser configured to dispense tire balancing beads onto a tire prior to seating the tire beads of the tire against a wheel.

[0103] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, at least one robotic articulated arm is configured to mount a tire and wheel on a vehicle with a tire balancing bead disposed within a wheel assembly formed by the wheel and the tire mounted on the wheel.

[0104] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a wheel assembly gripper on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm that removes a wheel from a vehicle with a tire attached.

[0105] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, an end effector on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm includes: placing the wheel with the tire mounted on it into an automated tire changing machine; and Removing the tire from the automated tire changing machine without it being mounted on the wheel by the automated tire changing machine; and Placing another tire on the automated tire changing machine for installation of the other tire on the wheel by the automated tire changing machine. The device is configured to perform one or more of the following:

[0106] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, an end effector on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm is configured to place the wheel with the other tire mounted on an automated tire balancing machine.

[0107] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, an end effector on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm is configured to mount a wheel to a vehicle with the other tire mounted thereon.

[0108] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, an autonomous lateral movement tire changing system includes two or more autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots, each of which: A carriage, Carriage frame, a plurality of wheels supporting a carriage frame; and a carriage drive unit including at least one motor defining at least one degree of freedom for driving at least one of a plurality of wheels that cause the carriage to move laterally autonomously along a lateral movement path relative to a lateral movement surface or floor on which the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot is placed; a carriage having a A bot frame, at least one robotic articulated arm attached to the carriage such that the robot frame moves laterally with the carriage as a unit along a lateral movement path; and a bot drive including a motor defining a separate bot arm degree of freedom independent of at least one degree of freedom; Including, a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm having a robotic arm degree of freedom, the joint having an end effector having a wheel or tire engaging tool positioned to provide engaging contact with a wheel or tire mounted on a vehicle; Botframe and communicatively connected to the carriage drive and the bot drive of each of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots to effect lateral movement of one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots along a respective lateral movement path that effects dynamic positioning of at least one robotic articulated arm of each of the one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots relative to variable positions of the vehicle with the wheel or tire attached; Controller and Equipped with.

[0109] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, dynamic positioning of each at least one robotic articulated arm relative to variable positions on the vehicle with the wheel or tire mounted thereon is such that the joints of each at least one robotic articulated arm are positioned to engage the wheel or tire engagement tool with the wheel or tire on the vehicle at variable positions.

[0110] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the carriage of each of the two or more autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots is guided on a track.

[0111] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the carriage of each of the two or more autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots is configured for autonomous guidance and unlimited lateral movement over a non-deterministic surface of a lateral movement surface or floor.

[0112] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the carriage of each of the two or more autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots has a positioning sensor; The controller Register the variable position of the vehicle, Registering the variable positions of wheels or tires on a vehicle as defined by the variable positions; or Register the location of labels or other markers placed on the wheel or tire It is configured as follows.

[0113] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for each of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots, an arm joint axis defined by a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm having a bot arm degree of freedom is independent and separate from the lateral movement path.

[0114] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for at least one of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots, the at least one robotic articulated arm includes two or more robotic arms, each having a different respective arm joint axis and a different respective end effector positioned to act on a wheel or tire attached to a vehicle.

[0115] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for at least one of the plurality of autonomous lateral moving tire changing bots, the at least one wheel or tire engagement tool is a tire mounting / removal tool that engages a tire of a wheel mounted on a vehicle on a joint of the at least one robotic articulated arm, resulting in the mounting and removal of the tire onto and from the wheel while the wheel is mounted in situ on the vehicle.

[0116] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the autonomous lateral movement tire changing system further comprises at least one vision system coupled to the controller, the vision system comprising: Identifying the position and orientation of one or more of the wheels and tires; reading tire sidewall information of a tire attached to a wheel while the wheel is attached to the vehicle in situ, and identifying tire information; identifying the make and model of the vehicle to effect retrieval of original tire information for the vehicle from a memory accessible by the controller; inspecting the wheels for one or more of damage and corrosion while the wheels are mounted in situ on the vehicle; reading tire sidewall information of the replacement or new tire to verify that the replacement or new tire is the correct size based on one or more of the identified tire information and the original tire information; reading the tire sidewall information of the replacement or new tire to identify a Department of Transportation code or information, the Department of Transportation code or information being stored in a database or memory associated with the vehicle's identification information; and Reading the tire sidewall information on the replacement or new tire to determine the rotation direction of the replacement or new tire It is composed of one or more of the following:

[0117] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral moving tire changing bots, the end effector includes a tire deflation tool on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm for deflating a tire attached to a wheel while the wheel is attached in situ to a vehicle.

[0118] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots, the end effector comprises a valve stem cap removal tool.

[0119] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots, the end effector further comprises a valve core removal tool.

[0120] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral moving tire changing bots, the end effector includes a tire bead breaker tool on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm that removes a tire bead from a wheel while the wheel is mounted in situ on a vehicle.

[0121] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots, the end effector is configured to clean the wheel while the wheel is mounted in situ on the vehicle.

[0122] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots, the end effector includes a tire balancer configured to equalize the total weight of the tire and wheel while the tire and wheel are rotating at operational speed and while the wheel is mounted in situ on the vehicle.

[0123] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral moving tire changing bots, the end effector includes a tire balancing bead dispenser configured to dispense tire balancing beads to a tire before seating the tire beads against the wheel with the wheel mounted in situ on the vehicle.

[0124] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral moving tire changing bots, the end effector includes a tire inflation tool on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm to inflate a tire mounted on a wheel while the wheel is mounted in situ on a vehicle.

[0125] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots, the end effector further comprises a valve core installation tool.

[0126] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots, the end effector comprises a valve stem cap installation tool.

[0127] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the autonomous tire changing system further comprises at least one vision system coupled to the controller, the vision system comprising: Identifying the position and orientation of one or more of the wheels and tires; Reading tire sidewall information of a tire mounted on a wheel to identify tire information; identifying the make and model of the vehicle to effect retrieval of original tire information for the vehicle from a memory accessible by the controller; Inspecting the wheels for one or more of damage and corrosion; reading tire sidewall information of the replacement or new tire to verify that the replacement or new tire is the correct size based on one or more of the identified tire information and the original tire information; reading the tire sidewall information of the replacement or new tire to identify a Department of Transportation code or information, the Department of Transportation code or information being stored in a database or memory associated with the vehicle's identification information; and Reading the tire sidewall information on the replacement or new tire to determine the rotation direction of the replacement or new tire The device is configured to perform one or more of the following:

[0128] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral moving tire changing bots, the end effector includes a tire deflation tool on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm to deflate a tire attached to a wheel.

[0129] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots, the end effector comprises a valve stem cap removal tool.

[0130] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots, the end effector further comprises a valve core removal tool.

[0131] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral moving tire changing bots, the end effector includes a tire bead breaker tool on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm that removes a tire bead from a wheel.

[0132] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots, the end effector is configured to wash the wheel.

[0133] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the autonomous lateral movement tire changing system further comprises at least one vision system coupled to the controller, the vision system comprising: The lug pattern of the wheel (i.e., the layout of the wheel mounting holes expressed as the number of lugs, expressed by the diameter of the imaginary circle formed by the centers of the lugs) , and The size of the lug bolts or lug nuts that connect the wheels to the vehicle The method is configured to identify:

[0134] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots, the end effector includes a lug wrench configured to both install and remove lug bolts or lug nuts.

[0135] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral moving tire changing bots, the end effector includes a tire inflation tool on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm to inflate a tire attached to a wheel.

[0136] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots, the end effector further comprises a valve core installation tool.

[0137] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots, the end effector comprises a valve stem cap installation tool.

[0138] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots, the end effector includes a tire balancer configured to equalize the total weight of the tire and wheel while the tire and wheel are rotating at operating speed.

[0139] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral moving tire changing bots, the end effector includes a tire balancing bead dispenser configured to dispense tire balancing beads onto the tire prior to seating the tire beads of the tire against the wheel.

[0140] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, at least one robotic articulated arm is configured to mount a tire and wheel to a vehicle with a tire balancing bead disposed within a wheel assembly formed by the wheel and the tire mounted on the wheel.

[0141] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots, the end effector includes a wheel assembly gripper on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm that removes a wheel from a vehicle with a tire attached.

[0142] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots, an end effector on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm is configured to: placing the wheel with the tire mounted on it into an automated tire changing machine; and Removing the tire from the automated tire changing machine without it being mounted on the wheel by the automated tire changing machine; and Placing another tire on the automated tire changing machine for installation of the other tire on the wheel by the automated tire changing machine. The device is configured to perform one or more of the following:

[0143] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral movement tire changing bots, an end effector on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm is configured to place the wheel with the other tire mounted on an automated tire balancing machine.

[0144] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, for one or more of the plurality of autonomous lateral moving tire changing bots, an end effector on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm attaches a wheel to a vehicle with the other tire attached.

[0145] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, a method for autonomously changing a tire includes: An autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot, A carriage, Carriage frame, a plurality of wheels supporting a carriage frame; and a carriage drive unit including at least one motor defining at least one degree of freedom for driving at least one of a plurality of wheels that cause the carriage to move laterally autonomously along a lateral movement path relative to a lateral movement surface or floor on which the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot is placed; a carriage having a A bot frame, at least one robotic articulated arm attached to the carriage such that the robot frame moves laterally with the carriage as a unit along a lateral movement path; and a bot drive including a motor defining a separate bot arm degree of freedom independent of at least one degree of freedom; Including, a robot frame, at least one robotic articulated arm having an end effector for positioning a wheel or tire engagement tool; providing an autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot having: and traversing the autonomous traversing tire changing bot along a traversal path with a controller communicatively connected to the carriage drive and the bot drive, to provide dynamic positioning of at least one robotic articulated arm with respect to variable positions of the vehicle with the wheel or tire attached; articulating at least one robotic articulated arm under control of a controller with a bot arm degree of freedom that brings a wheel or tire engagement tool into engagement contact with a wheel or tire mounted on a vehicle to effect a tire change by the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot; Equipped with.

[0146] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, dynamic positioning of at least one robotic articulated arm relative to variable positions of a vehicle with a wheel or tire mounted thereon is arranged such that joints of the at least one robotic articulated arm engage a wheel or tire engagement tool with a wheel or tire on the vehicle at the variable positions.

[0147] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the step of moving the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot laterally along the lateral movement path includes the carriage moving along the track and being guided by the track.

[0148] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, moving the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot along the lateral movement path includes autonomously guiding the carriage in unrestricted lateral movement on a non-deterministic surface of the lateral movement surface or floor.

[0149] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further includes registering, by a carriage controller and a positioning sensor, a variable position of the vehicle or a variable position of a wheel or tire on the vehicle defined by the variable position.

[0150] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, an arm joint axis defined by a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm having a robotic arm degree of freedom is independent and separate from the lateral movement path.

[0151] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the at least one robotic articulated arm includes two or more robotic arms, each having a different respective arm joint axis and a different respective end effector positioned to act on a wheel or tire attached to a vehicle.

[0152] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further comprises the steps of mounting and dismounting the tire on and from the wheel with at least one wheel or tire engagement tool; the at least one wheel or tire engaging tool is a tire mounting / removal tool that engages a tire of a wheel mounted on a vehicle on a joint of the at least one robotic articulated arm; and The fitting and removal of tires onto wheels is accomplished by an autonomous lateral tire changing bot with the wheel either in-situ mounted on the vehicle or removed from the vehicle.

[0153] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method includes, by at least one vision system coupled to a controller: identifying the position and orientation of one or more of the wheels and tires; reading tire sidewall information of a tire mounted on a wheel to identify tire information, either with the wheel mounted in situ on the vehicle or with the wheel removed from the vehicle; identifying the make and model of the vehicle to effect retrieval of original tire information for the vehicle from a memory accessible by the controller; inspecting the wheel for one or more of damage and corrosion while the wheel is in situ mounted on the vehicle or while the wheel is removed from the vehicle; reading tire sidewall information of the replacement or new tire to verify that the replacement or new tire is the correct size based on one or more of the identified tire information and the original tire information; reading tire sidewall information of the replacement or new tire to verify a Department of Transportation code or information, wherein the Department of Transportation code or information is stored in a database or memory associated with the vehicle's identification information; and Reading the tire sidewall information of the replacement or new tire to determine the rotational orientation of the replacement or new tire. The device further comprises one or more of:

[0154] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further includes, on a joint of the at least one robotic articulated arm, deflating a tire mounted on the wheel with a tire deflation tool on the end effector, with the wheel either mounted in situ on the vehicle or with the wheel removed from the vehicle.

[0155] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further includes removing the valve stem cap with a valve stem cap removal tool of the end effector.

[0156] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further comprises removing the valve core with a valve core removal tool of the end effector.

[0157] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further includes removing, on a joint of the at least one robotic articulated arm, a tire bead from the wheel while the wheel is in situ mounted on the vehicle or while the wheel is removed from the vehicle.

[0158] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further includes cleaning the wheel with the end effector, either while the wheel is in situ mounted on the vehicle or while the wheel is removed from the vehicle.

[0159] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further includes equalizing the total weight of the tire and wheel with the tire and wheel rotating at operating speed and with the wheel mounted in situ on the vehicle using a tire balancer on the end effector.

[0160] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further includes removing a wheel from the vehicle with a tire attached on a joint of the at least one robotic articulated arm with a wheel assembly grip of the end effector.

[0161] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method includes, by an end effector on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm: placing the wheel with the tire mounted on it into an automated tire changing machine; and removing the tire from the automated tire changing machine while it is detached from the wheel by the automated tire changing machine; placing another tire in the automated tire changing machine for mounting the other tire on the wheel by the automated tire machine; The device further comprises one or more of:

[0162] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further includes placing the wheel, with the other tire attached, on an automated tire balancing machine by an end effector on a joint of at least one robotic articulated arm.

[0163] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further includes attaching the wheel to the vehicle with the other tire attached by an end effector on a joint of the at least one robotic articulated arm.

[0164] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further includes the step of supplying tire balancing beads to the tire by a tire balancing bead dispenser of the end effector prior to seating the tire beads of the tire against the wheel.

[0165] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further includes mounting a tire and wheel on a vehicle with at least one robotic articulated arm, the tire balancing bead being positioned within a wheel assembly formed by the wheel and the tire mounted on the wheel.

[0166] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further includes inflating a tire mounted on a wheel on a joint of the at least one robotic articulated arm with a tire inflation tool of the end effector, either with the wheel mounted in situ on the vehicle or with the wheel removed from the vehicle.

[0167] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further includes installing the valve core with a valve core installation tool of the end effector.

[0168] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further includes installing the valve stem cap with a valve stem cap installation tool of the end effector.

[0169] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method includes, by at least one vision system coupled to a controller: The lug pattern of the wheel, and The size of the lug bolts or lug nuts that connect the wheels to the vehicle The method further comprises identifying:

[0170] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further includes one of both removing and installing the lug bolts or lug nuts with a lug wrench on the end effector.

[0171] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further includes equalizing the total weight of the tire and wheel with a tire balancer of the end effector while the tire and wheel are rotating.

[0172] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further comprises raising the tire of the vehicle from the traverse surface or floor to effect the tire change.

[0173] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the method further includes removing the normal force exerted on the tire by the tire support surface to separate the tire from the tire support surface and effect tire replacement.

[0174] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, an autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot includes: An autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot, A carriage, Carriage frame, a plurality of wheels supporting a carriage frame; and a carriage drive unit including at least one motor defining at least one degree of freedom for driving at least one of a plurality of wheels that cause the carriage to move laterally autonomously along a lateral movement path relative to a lateral movement surface or floor on which the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot is placed; a carriage having a A bot frame, at least one actuator attached to the carriage such that the bot frame moves laterally with the carriage as a unit along the lateral movement path; and A robot drive including a motor defining a separate actuator degree of freedom independent of at least one degree of freedom. Including, At least one actuator is a tire engaging tool, and a joint of the at least one actuator having an actuator degree of freedom has an end effector having the tire engaging tool, the tire engaging tool being positioned to bring the tire engaging tool into engaging contact with a tire mounted on a vehicle; Botframe and communicatively connected to the carriage drive and the bot drive to effect lateral movement of the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot with the tire attached along a lateral movement path that effects dynamic positioning of the at least one actuator relative to a variable position of the vehicle; Controller and Equipped with.

[0175] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, dynamic positioning of at least one actuator relative to a variable position on the vehicle with the tire mounted thereon is arranged such that articulation of the at least one actuator engages the tire engagement tool with the tire on the vehicle at the variable position.

[0176] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the carriage is guided on a track.

[0177] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the carriage is configured for autonomous guidance and unlimited lateral movement over the non-deterministic surface of a traversal surface or floor.

[0178] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the carriage has a positioning sensor; The controller Register the variable position of the vehicle, Registering the variable position of the tire on the vehicle, or registering the position of a label or other marker placed on the tire, as defined by the variable position. It is configured as follows.

[0179] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, an actuator joint axis defined by at least one actuator joint having an actuator degree of freedom is independent and distinct from the lateral movement path.

[0180] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the at least one actuator includes two or more actuators, each having a different respective actuator articulation axis and a different respective end effector positioned to act on a tire mounted to the vehicle.

[0181] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the at least one wheel or tire engagement tool is a tire mounting / removal tool that engages, on an articulation of the at least one actuator, a wheel of a tire mounted to a vehicle, resulting in the mounting and removal of the tire onto and from the wheel while the wheel is mounted in situ on the vehicle.

[0182] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot further comprises at least one vision system coupled to the controller; The visual system is Identifying the position and orientation of one or more of the wheels and tires; reading tire sidewall information of a tire attached to a wheel while the wheel is attached to the vehicle in situ, and identifying tire information; identifying the make and model of the vehicle to effect retrieval of original tire information for the vehicle from a memory accessible by the controller; inspecting the wheels for one or more of damage and corrosion while the wheels are mounted in situ on the vehicle; reading tire sidewall information of the replacement or new tire to verify that the replacement or new tire is the correct size based on one or more of the identified tire information and the original tire information; reading tire sidewall information of the replacement or new tire to identify a Department of Transportation code or information, the Department of Transportation code or information being stored in a database or memory associated with the vehicle's identification information; and Reading the tire sidewall information on the replacement or new tire to determine the rotation direction of the replacement or new tire The device is configured to perform one or more of the following:

[0183] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a tire deflation tool that, on the articulation of at least one actuator, deflates a tire mounted on a wheel while the wheel is mounted in situ on a vehicle.

[0184] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector comprises a valve stem cap removal tool.

[0185] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector further includes a valve core removal tool.

[0186] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a tire bead breaker tool that, upon articulation of at least one actuator, removes a tire bead from a wheel while the wheel is mounted in situ on a vehicle.

[0187] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector is configured to clean the wheel while the wheel is in situ mounted on the vehicle.

[0188] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a tire balancer configured to equalize the total weight of the tire and wheel while the tire and wheel are rotating at operational speed and while the wheel is mounted in situ on the vehicle.

[0189] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a tire balancing bead dispenser configured to dispense tire balancing beads to a tire while the wheel is mounted in situ on a vehicle and before the tire beads of the tire are seated against the wheel.

[0190] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a tire inflation tool that, on the articulation of at least one actuator, inflates a tire mounted on a wheel while the wheel is mounted in situ on the vehicle.

[0191] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector further includes a valve core installation tool.

[0192] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector further includes a valve stem cap installation tool.

[0193] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the device further comprises at least one vision system coupled to the controller; The visual system is Identifying the position and orientation of one or more of the wheels and tires; Reading tire sidewall information of a tire mounted on a wheel to identify tire information; identifying the make and model of the vehicle to effect retrieval of original tire information for the vehicle from a memory accessible by the controller; Inspecting the wheels for one or more of damage and corrosion; reading tire sidewall information of the replacement or new tire to verify that the replacement or new tire is the correct size based on one or more of the identified tire information and the original tire information; reading tire sidewall information of the replacement or new tire to identify a Department of Transportation code or information, the Department of Transportation code or information being stored in a database or memory associated with the vehicle's identification information; and Reading the tire sidewall information on the replacement or new tire to determine the rotation direction of the replacement or new tire The device is configured to perform one or more of the following:

[0194] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a tire deflation tool on the articulation of the at least one actuator to deflate a tire mounted on the wheel.

[0195] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector comprises a valve stem cap removal tool.

[0196] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector further includes a valve core removal tool.

[0197] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes, on an articulation of the at least one actuator, a tire bead breaker tool that removes a tire bead from a wheel.

[0198] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector is configured to clean the wheel.

[0199] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot further comprises at least one vision system coupled to the controller, the vision system comprising: Wheel lug pattern, and The size of the lug bolts or lug nuts that connect the wheels to the vehicle The method is configured to identify:

[0200] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a lug wrench configured to both install and remove lug bolts or lug nuts.

[0201] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a tire inflation tool on the articulation of the at least one actuator to inflate a tire mounted on the wheel.

[0202] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector further includes a valve core installation tool.

[0203] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a valve stem cap installation tool.

[0204] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a tire balancer configured to equalize the total weight of the tire and wheel while the tire and wheel are rotating at operating speed.

[0205] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a tire balancing bead dispenser configured to dispense tire balancing beads onto the tire prior to seating the tire beads of the tire against the wheel; The at least one actuator is configured to mount the tire and wheel to the vehicle with a tire balancing bead disposed within a wheel assembly formed by the wheel and the tire mounted on the wheel.

[0206] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, the end effector includes a wheel assembly grip on an articulation of the at least one actuator for removing a wheel from a vehicle with a tire attached thereto.

[0207] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, an end effector on at least one actuator joint includes: placing the wheel with the tire mounted on it into an automated tire changing machine; and Removing from the automated tire changing machine any tire that is not mounted on a wheel by the automated tire changing machine; and Placing another tire on the automated tire changing machine for installation of the other tire on the wheel by the automated tire changing machine. The method is configured to perform one or more of the following:

[0208] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, an end effector on a joint of at least one actuator is configured to place the wheel with the other tire mounted on an automated tire balancing machine.

[0209] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, an end effector on a joint of at least one actuator is configured to mount a wheel to a vehicle with the other tire mounted thereon.

[0210] According to one or more aspects of the present disclosure, there is provided a method for autonomously changing a tire, the method comprising: An autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot, A carriage, Carriage frame, a plurality of wheels supporting a carriage frame; and a carriage drive unit including at least one motor defining at least one degree of freedom for driving at least one of a plurality of wheels that cause the carriage to move laterally autonomously along a lateral movement path relative to a lateral movement surface or floor on which the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot is placed; a carriage having a A bot frame, at least one actuator attached to the carriage such that the bot frame moves laterally with the carriage as a unit along the lateral movement path; and A robot drive including a motor defining a separate actuator degree of freedom independent of at least one degree of freedom. Including, At least one actuator includes a bot frame having an end effector with a tire engaging tool; providing an autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot having: and causing the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot to lateral move along a lateral movement path by a controller communicatively connected to the carriage drive unit and the bot drive unit, with the tire attached, to dynamically position at least one actuator relative to a variable position of the vehicle; and actuating at least one actuator under control of the controller with an actuator degree of freedom that brings the tire engagement tool into engagement contact with a tire mounted on a vehicle to effect a tire change by the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot. Equipped with.

[0211] It should be understood that the foregoing description merely illustrates aspects of the present disclosure. Various alternatives and modifications may occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the aspects of the present disclosure are intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of any claims appended hereto. Furthermore, the mere recitation of different features in mutually different dependent or independent claims does not indicate that a combination of these features cannot be advantageously used, and such combinations remain within the scope of the aspects of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. An autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot for performing tire maintenance operations on a vehicle, the vehicle including at least one wheel hub and at least one wheel assembly, the at least one wheel assembly including a wheel and a tire mountable to the wheel, the wheel engageable with the at least one wheel hub to selectively mount and / or remove the wheel assembly from the vehicle; The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot, A carriage; Botframe and Controller and Equipped with The carriage is Carriage frame, a plurality of wheels supporting the carriage frame; and a carriage drive unit including at least one motor defining at least one degree of freedom for driving at least one of the plurality of wheels that causes the carriage to move laterally autonomously along a lateral movement path relative to a lateral movement surface or floor on which the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot is placed; and The bot frame is at least one actuator attached to the carriage such that the robot frame moves laterally with the carriage as a unit along the lateral movement path; and a robot drive including a motor defining a separate actuator degree of freedom independent of the at least one degree of freedom; Including, the at least one actuator has an end effector, the end effector including or engageable with at least one tire engagement tool, the tire engagement tool being positioned such that a joint of the at least one actuator having the actuator degree of freedom brings the at least one tire engagement tool into engaging contact with the tire while the wheel is mounted in situ on the vehicle; the controller is communicatively connected to the carriage drive unit and the bot drive unit to effect lateral movement of the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot along the lateral movement path that effects dynamic positioning of the at least one actuator relative to a variable position of the vehicle with the tire attached to the vehicle; Autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot.

2. 2. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 1, wherein the dynamic positioning of the at least one actuator relative to the variable position of the vehicle with the tire mounted thereon is such that a joint of the at least one actuator is positioned to engage the at least one tire engagement tool with the tire on the vehicle at the variable position.

3. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 1 , wherein the carriage is guided by a track.

4. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 1 , wherein the carriage is configured for autonomous guidance and unlimited lateral movement over a non-deterministic surface of the lateral movement surface or the floor.

5. the carriage has a positioning sensor; The controller registering the variable position of the vehicle; Registering a variable position of the tire on the vehicle defined by the variable position or registering the position of a label or other marker placed on the tire. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 1 , configured to:

6. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 1 , wherein an actuator joint axis defined by a joint of the at least one actuator having the actuator degree of freedom is independent and separate from the lateral movement path.

7. 7. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 6, wherein the at least one actuator includes two or more actuators, each of the two or more actuators having a different respective actuator articulation axis and a different respective end effector positioned to act on the wheel or tire attached to the vehicle.

8. 2. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 1, wherein at least one tire engagement tool is a tire mounting / removal tool that engages a tire of the wheel assembly attached to the vehicle on a joint of the at least one actuator, and causes the tire to be mounted on the wheel and removed from the wheel while the wheel is mounted in situ on the vehicle.

9. further comprising at least one vision system coupled to the controller; The vision system comprises: identifying a position and orientation of one or more of said wheel and said tire; reading tire sidewall information of the tire attached to the wheel while the wheel is attached to the vehicle in situ, and identifying tire information; identifying the make and model of said vehicle to effect retrieval of original tire information for said vehicle from a memory accessible by said controller; inspecting the wheel for one or more of damage and corrosion while the wheel is mounted in situ on the vehicle; reading tire sidewall information of the replacement or new tire to verify that the replacement or new tire is the correct size based on one or more of the identified tire information and the original tire information; reading tire sidewall information of the replacement or new tire to identify a Department of Transportation code or information, the Department of Transportation code or information being stored in a database or memory associated with the vehicle's identification information; and Reading tire sidewall information of a replacement or new tire to determine the rotational orientation of said replacement or new tire.

10. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 1, configured to perform one or more of the following:

10. 2. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 1, wherein the end effector includes or engages a tire deflation tool on a joint of the at least one actuator to deflate the tire attached to the wheel while the wheel is attached in situ to the vehicle.

11. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 10 , wherein the end effector includes or engages a valve stem cap removal tool.

12. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 10 , wherein the end effector further includes or engages a valve core removal tool.

13. 2. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 1, wherein the end effector includes or engages a tire bead breaker tool on the joint of the at least one actuator to remove a bead of the tire from the wheel while the wheel is mounted in situ on the vehicle.

14. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 1 , wherein the end effector is configured to clean the wheel while the wheel is mounted in situ on the vehicle.

15. 2. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 1, wherein the end effector includes or engages a tire balancer configured to equalize the total weight of the tire and the wheel while the tire and the wheel are rotating at an operating speed and while the wheel is mounted in situ on the vehicle.

16. 2. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 1, wherein the end effector includes or engages a tire balancing bead dispenser configured to supply tire balancing beads to the tire while the wheel is mounted in situ on the vehicle and before the tire beads of the tire are seated against the wheel.

17. 2. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 1, wherein the end effector includes or engages a tire inflation tool on a joint of the at least one actuator to inflate the tire attached to the wheel while the wheel is attached in situ to the vehicle.

18. 20. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 17, wherein the end effector further includes or engages a valve core installation tool.

19. 18. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 17, wherein the end effector further includes or engages a valve stem cap installation tool.

20. further comprising at least one vision system coupled to the controller; The vision system comprises: identifying a position and orientation of one or more of said wheel and said tire; reading tire sidewall information of the tire attached to the wheel to identify tire information; identifying the make and model of said vehicle to effect retrieval of original tire information for said vehicle from a memory accessible by said controller; inspecting the wheels for one or more of damage and corrosion; reading tire sidewall information of the replacement or new tire to verify that the replacement or new tire is the correct size based on one or more of the identified tire information and the original tire information; reading tire sidewall information of the replacement or new tire to identify a Department of Transportation code or information, the Department of Transportation code or information being stored in a database or memory associated with the vehicle's identification information; and Reading tire sidewall information of a replacement or new tire to determine the rotational orientation of said replacement or new tire.

10. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 1, configured to perform one or more of the following:

21. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 1 , wherein the end effector includes or engages a tire deflation tool that deflates the tire attached to the wheel on a joint of the at least one actuator.

22. 22. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 21, wherein the end effector includes or engages a valve stem cap removal tool.

23. 22. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 21, wherein the end effector further includes or engages a valve core removal tool.

24. 22. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 21, wherein the end effector includes or engages a tire bead breaker tool on a joint of the at least one actuator to remove a bead of the tire from the wheel.

25. 22. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 21, wherein the end effector is configured to clean the wheel.

26. The end effector a tire inflation tool attached to a wheel on an articulation of the at least one actuator for inflating the tire; Valve core installation tool, and Valve Stem Cap Installation Tool or said tire inflation tool; the valve core installation tool; and Valve stem cap installation tool 10. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 1, wherein the bot engages with one or more of:

27. 2. The autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot of claim 1, wherein the end effector includes or engages a tire balancer configured to equalize the total weight of the tire and the wheel while the tire and the wheel are rotating at an operating speed.

28. 1. A method of autonomously performing tire maintenance operations on a vehicle, the vehicle including at least one wheel hub and at least one wheel assembly, the at least one wheel assembly including a wheel and a tire mountable to the wheel, the wheel engageable with the at least one wheel hub to selectively mount and / or remove the wheel assembly from the vehicle; The method comprises: providing an autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot; the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot has a carriage and a bot frame; The carriage is Carriage frame, a plurality of wheels supporting the carriage frame; and a carriage drive unit including at least one motor defining at least one degree of freedom for driving at least one of the plurality of wheels that causes the carriage to move laterally autonomously along a lateral movement path relative to a lateral movement surface or floor on which the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot is placed; and The bot frame is at least one actuator attached to the carriage such that the robot frame moves laterally with the carriage as a unit along the lateral movement path; and a robot drive including a motor defining a separate actuator degree of freedom independent of the at least one degree of freedom; Including, the at least one actuator has an end effector, the end effector including or engaging at least one tire engaging tool; The method comprises: a controller communicatively connected to the carriage drive unit and the bot drive unit to move the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot laterally along the lateral movement path, and dynamically positioning the at least one actuator with respect to a variable position of the vehicle with the tire attached to the vehicle; The method further comprises: Actuating the at least one actuator under control of the controller in the actuator degree of freedom to bring the at least one tire engagement tool into engagement contact with the tire mounted on a vehicle to effect a tire change by the autonomous lateral movement tire changing bot while the wheel is mounted in situ on the vehicle; and Balancing the wheel assembly with a tire balancer, the tire balancer attached to or engaging the end effector, the tire balancer configured to equalize the total weight of the tire and the wheel while the tire and the wheel rotate at operating speed. further comprising one or more steps of How to change tires autonomously.

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